Bad Luck Strikes at Midnight
by ReneeDenim
Summary: Kristen Lusk is a Sweeper, and it's a secret from her parents. With her and her partner, Sven, there hasn't been a job they failed. Until Black Cat came, they're annoyed with eachother, but when Black Cat becomes a Sweeper, Kristen has second thoughts about him. Love will bloom for Kristen and Train in this series from the anime and parts from the manga.
1. Chapter 1

Sweeper

I sat anxiously at the dinner table with my mom, dad, and two younger sisters Megan and Emma. I kept eyeing the clock that hung over the window, six twenty seven. If this didn't finish fast enough I'd fall behind. I ate quickly, hoping that I'd be done in a short time so that I could finally leave.

"Honey," mom said. She had long auburn hair and hazel eyes. She was absolutely beautiful. "Slow down a bit or you might choke." I slowed down, but only a little bit. "You're growing up so fast, so fast that you don't want to spend time with your parents." She blubbered.

"So then," my dad started. He had short black hair and brown eyes. He was handsome, totally handsome. "How do you kids feel about playing a bit of clue after dinner?" he asked. My sisters groaned in disagreement. Megan, the second youngest looked like dad since they both had olive skin and dark hair while Emma, the youngest, looked a lot like mom with her red hair and hazel eyes. I, on the other hand, was completely different with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Dad didn't want to take no for an answer at Clue so I groaned at the thought of a game now, I didn't have time.

"I'm done," I say.

"No you're not," Mom said. "Sit back down we are having family time."

I groan; I was running out of time. I had to do something or I'd fall behind. I think hard about the possible escape acts, when Megan tapped me from under the table. I looked at her; she made a motion to her stomach. I knew what she was trying to say; play sick. I clutched my stomach and breathed heavier than I usually do.

"Kristen?" Dad asked. "Are you ok?"

"I feel sick," I say. Then I leap out of my chair and into the nearby bathroom where I pretend to vomit. I'm good at acting, my drama teacher would agree. And it worked just as I hoped.

"Oh, Kristen," Mom said as I came out of the bathroom. "I'm sorry honey, go upstairs and rest, ok?" I nod, cleaned my plate, and then walked upstairs still clutching my stomach. "Will you be able to go to school on Monday?" she asked.

"Yeah," I say. My parents had a business trip that would last for a few days so I'd be alone with my sisters. Megan reassured them that I'd feel better tomorrow if I rested now. Thank you Megan, unlike the rest of my family; she and Emma knew what I had to do. I ran to my room, shut the door, and locked it. I went straight to my closet and pulled out a black tote bag. Inside it contained my toothbrush, toothpaste, clothes, you know; the usual stuff you'd bring on a trip. There was a knock at the door. I kicked the tote bag under my bed and unlocked the door. Megan was there with Emma.

"Can we come in?" Emma asked. I opened the door for them to come in. "Nice acting by the way." She commented. "Very believable, I almost bought it until Megan told me." For a seven old, she was very mature for her age. Megan was twelve and was also very mature. I was the oldest standing at sixteen.

"Are you leaving tonight?" Megan asked.

"Yep," I say, pulling out my bag. "Duty calls."

"I wish I could be like you," Emma said wistfully. "Having a double life,"

"You don't want a double life," I say, packing an evening gown and heels into the bag. "You'd have to lie to mom and dad."

"And you promise that you'll tell them when you graduate college?" Megan demanded. I nodded. College was still years away, and after that; I could finally tell them my secret.

"Will you two be ok being alone until Sunday night?" I ask.

Megan shot her hand out at me. "Can we order pizza and a movie on Saturday?" I rolled my eyes and reached for my bank. I withdrew fifty dollars and handed it to her.

"Just don't just eat pizza," I say. "At least order from Subway at least once."

"Hey, relax," Emma said. "We've done this before,"

I pointed a finger at Emma. "And make sure you finish your homework for Monday." I say. Emma nodded. I looked at both of them. "You two know the drills; so repeat them to me."

Emma sighed. "Do your chores and homework, eat healthy meals and get to bed on time, feed the dog and cats, look both ways when crossing the streets if you go to the store, don't over spend the money in the blue box, and don't answer the doors to strangers and take messages."

"Don't use the knives or stove, always wear a helmet when riding bikes." Megan said.

"Use the First Aid kit in mom's office and call 911 in case of a real emergency." Emma added.

"And if mom and or dad calls, tell them that you're in the shower if they ask." Megan finished.

I smiled at them and handed them an extra five dollars. "And be careful," I say. I was so proud of them; I know I seemed overprotective, but I do this every so often. So they're left home alone for a few days.

"You have to be careful too," Emma said hugging me. "Please come back,"

I hugged both of them. "I promise I'll come back." I released them just as I heard the garage door open from under me. Mom and dad were leaving for their business trip.

"We still have time," Megan said. "Why don't we watch a movie for a while?"

"I'd like that," I say, grabbing my tote bag and following my two sisters downstairs into the TV room. They popped in the Hunger Games and for forty five minutes we watched a girl from a futuristic world of North America fight to the death against twenty four other kids. Sometimes I'd make a comment like that if Lord of the Rings had no violence it'd be the world's shortest movie, or that if Twilight didn't have violence it'd basically be a movie about two kids making out for an hour. The night was filled with laughter and girls on fire. I had to leave when a knock came at the front door.

On the other side of the door was a tall, skinny man with short brown hair, a white suit and hat, and an eye patch over his left eye. He smiled at the sight of us.

"Uncle Sven!" Emma said, hugging his leg. Sven Vollfied wasn't our uncle, but the girls kind of adopted him when he became my business partner.

"How's it going?" Sven asked. Emma released his leg and went on about her a plus in Spelling.

"Make sure you protect our sister," Megan said, looking straight into his eyes. "Promise," The two of them pinky promised.

"I'll protect her with my life." Sven promised. Then he looked at me. "You ready?" he asked.

"I was born ready," I say, handing him my tote bag. He put it in the back seat.

"Bye Kristen," Megan said, waving to me as I climbed into Sven's black car. "Come home safely!"

I waved back at my sisters. "I will, I promise,"

"We love you!" Emma called as we pulled away from the house.

"I love you too," I say as we drive down the street. My name is Kristen Walker, I'm sixteen years old, I'm from Meridian Idaho, and I'm a Sweeper or a kind of bounty hunter. I've been in this business since I was fifteen five months ago and I've been with Sven for about four months now. This is who I am, and this is why I can't tell my parents until I'm an official adult. I mean, would _you_ tell your parents that you were a bounty hunter and were secretly going off with some stranger across the world hunting down dangerous criminals? I don't even want to _think_ about their reaction.

For a while, we sat in silence as we drove through the Meridian farm lands. Then finally Sven spoke up.

"I got your gun polished, press the seventh button." He said. "It's in the suitcase, third button." I reached into the backseat and pulled Sven's suitcase over to me. It was a steel suitcase with a dozen buttons near the lid. It could fire sleeping gas, a net, a machine gun, plus it could hide my gun from airport security. I pressed the seventh button, inside was my gun, a small black Austria. Engraved on the side was the Japanese Kanji symbol for my nickname; black knight.

"Wow, Sven," I say, turning my beautiful weapon over to inspect it. "Thanks a ton!"

"Aw, don't mention it," He said smiling. "I _am_ a gentleman remember?"

"I remember," I say, putting the gun back in the case and putting it back in the back seat. "So, who are we going after this time?" I ask.

Sven passed me a flyer; it had a picture of a man with blonde hair and red highlights and he had a muscular build. "This is Lib Tyrant," Sven said as we drove through the Boise area. "He's the new governor of Florence Italy."

I inspected the flyer. "He's a gangster?" I ask. "Then how the heck did he become a Governor?"

"Drug dealership, blackmail, and murder, I'm still not quite sure." Sven said. "But we're not the only ones targeting him,"

"Chronos," I said. "Those bastards have no business whatsoever to intrude." Chronos are a group of assassins who killed for power. They had no justice; they'd kill a child if it was part of their mission.

"Who are they sending?" I ask.

"Not quite sure, but I know that it's one of the numbers, if you don't want to do it now we can turn around." The numbers were the real bad guys. They were supposed to be the tough guys, the really well trained guys.

"Well," I say. "We can't let a thing like that stop us; I mean did you even _look_ at this thing?" I pointed to the bounty. "If we pull this off we get two _million_ dollars in _cash_!"

Sven smiled. "I like that spunk of yours, just stay with me when we get to Lib's mansion." Then we pulled over into the airport parking lot. I retrieved my bag from the back and handed Sven his suitcase.

"I've always wanted to see Italy." I say. "So let's roll," We walked into the airport, it was huge. We walked through security without a hick. I took a seat in one of the waiting seats and called the house. Megan answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Megan." I say.

"Kristen?!" she asked.

"Yes,"

Megan called for Emma and they were both on the phone.

"Are you at the airport?" Emma asked.

"I am; we're heading to Florence, Italy."

"Florence," Megan echoed. "Lucky, can you bring us something?" she begged.

"I'll see what I can find," I say. "But it can't be something that mom and dad will notice."

"So scratch off t-shirts, coffee cups, and any toys." Megan said.

"Hey, how does a really good recipe for Italian food, or maybe a Euro that I can hide?" Emma asked.

"Maybe," I say. "So, are you two ok?"

"Kristen, we're fine!" Megan cried. "We've done this for months, just enjoy Italy."

"Just don't look at any Italian boys." Emma said.

I turned around; people were starting to head through the gate. "I've got to go, I'll call you when I get to Florence."

"Sounds good to me," Megan said.

"See you Kristen." Emma said.

"Bye," I hung up. Sven was smiling at me.

"You are such a good sister." He said.

"Am I?" I ask as we go through the gates and down the ramp into the plane. We sat in our seats and buckled up. I powered off my phone.

"I'm serious," he said. "You always make sure that you call your sisters before we get into the air, you always make sure they know the drills of being alone, I'm serious; you are a great sister."

"Thanks," I say. The air started pulling out into the air. In just seconds, we were flying overhead. "What time is it in Italy?"

"Well right now its six fifty four so it's three in the afternoon, almost four." Sven said. I nodded and gazed out the window; I loved flying, it was so exhilarating seeing the houses, cars, people shrink into ant sized. And I loved being high and moving, I've always wanted to fly. This is one of the good things about being a Sweeper; you get paid a whole lot, and the society who posts all these jobs pay for your trip whether it's by train, by boat, by plane, or by bus. I've only been on a plane twice, but as a Sweeper I've been in a plane three times.

I put my iPod ear buds in my ears and was about to switch on my iPod when I remembered something. "Hey, Sven," I say.

"Yeah," he asked.

"Wake me when we arrive at our stop," I say. "And, do you know which number we'll be facing?"

He was quiet for a moment; did he know? "I don't know," he said. I knew it.

"Figures," I say switching on my iPod. I drifted to sleep listening to my book about a girl falling in love with an angel, a celestial being.

I was awoken by Sven's tap; he said that we were about one hour from landing in Florence. A flight attendant asked if we wanted dinner. I told her that I had already eaten, but a cup of orange juice and a bag of chips would settle for me.

"I brought a couple hundred dollars for the trip." I say as I indulge in my chips.

"Oh, good," Sven said, sipping a beer. "I can't afford meals since I couldn't really complete missions alone. I hope that we can complete this mission because if we don't complete this mission, I'll be broke."

"Maybe if you'd known last year that your constant smoking would've made you gone broke," I start.

"I've been trying the packs." He rolled up his shirt sleeve to reveal the medicine that is supposed to help him quit. As far as I know, it's been working like a charm. "They're working pretty well." Sven had to quit smoking when he realized that he was getting a sixteen year old partner.

"I'm proud of you," I say handing him five hundred dollars. "This'll get you a decent meal and a room in a hotel for about three nights."

Sven's face lit up. "Oh my god, thanks kid! You're the best partner I've ever had in a long time!"

"I know, I'm no Lloyd," I say sheepishly.

"Lloyd would've loved you," he said. Lloyd was Sven's first partner a few years ago. They were the best of friends; but Lloyd died for Sven. He took a bullet to the chest for Sven, that's how Sven got the eye patch; Lloyd's last gift to Sven was the ability to see just a few seconds into the future through his left eye, but it'd always leave him drained of energy. Sven hardly ever talked about Lloyd.

"Anyway," I say trying to switch subjects. "I'm excited to see Florence, what's it like?"

"I know it's a quaint little town," Sven said. "Very sunny, you'll like it."

"Good," I say. "I'm tired, I'm going to sleep some more."

"Ok," Sven said. I drifted off to sleep again looking out the plane window, seeing clouds drift past the window.

I had the strangest dream; I was following a black cat with gold eyes endlessly. Sven woke me up, we were in Italy. We exited the plane slowly and to the suitcase drop off. It wasn't hard finding Sven's but it took a while to find mine.

"I'll call a hotel," Sven said.

"Okay," I checked my phone, good bars here. My parents pay for long distance so I was about to call Megan again.

"You realize that it's eleven in the morning here now," Sven said holding the phone in one hand.

"Yeah,"

"So back home it's like two in the morning." Sven said.

"Oh," I shut my phone. "I'll just call them later."

"A cab is coming in ten minutes." Sven said. "After we go to the hotel we'll go eat some Italian food."

"I'd like that," I say.

"In the meantime," Sven added. "Why don't you go over to that machine and get our cash exchanged for Euros."

I nodded and walked over to exchange. It took a few seconds and I decided to buy an Italian to English dictionary, I even bought Sven a newspaper, he already spoke nine languages while I only spoke three; English, Spanish, and Japanese. I asked the man for a translated version of the paper, he gave it to me and froze in my steps once I read the headline. It read; 'Pastier in Rome killed last night, Black Cat taking Italy by Storm'.

I passed the paper to Sven and he grimaced once he read the headline.

"This is not good," He said.

"What?" I ask while skimming the dictionary.

"Black Cat is a Chrono, one of the numbers." Sven explained. "If he's here in Italy, we might run into him here."

"Ouch," I say. "Which number?"

"Number thirteen,"

"Well _that's_ convenient." I say sarcastically. "Don't worry Sven, I trust you to watch me plus, I know how to block bullets with my 'you know what'."

"I know," he said. "I'll make sure that you're safe, I promised your sisters." I smiled, Sven was like an older brother to me, and I looked up to him, a bit.

"Oh," Sven said. "The cab is here, ready to go?"

"Yeah," I say. We walked outside to the waiting cab. We put our suitcases in the trunk and we were off. Florence was absolutely packed, there must be a parade going on. "What's the celebration for?" I ask.

"It's for our new governor, Lib Tyrant," the cabby said. "He's made a promise to make this society great."

Sven mouthed the words; 'not really' to me, and then he looked back at the cabby. I almost burst out laughing at his expression but I bit my tongue.


	2. Chapter 2

Good Italian food

"Here we are," the cabby said pulling the car to a stop. We stopped in front of a small cottage with a sign that read something in Italian. We tipped the cabby, retrieved the briefcase and tote bag, and then entered the cottage; there was a woman at the main counter.

"Uh, reservations under Vollfied," Sven said. "I called a few minutes ago?"

"Second floor, third room down, here's your key." The woman handed Sven a key then pointed to the stairs without giving us as so much as a glance.

"Thanks," I say. Our room was small; it had two beds, one bathroom, and that's it. I sit on the bed closest to the window.

"Ok," Sven said. "What do you want to do now?"

My stomach growled in response; I just knew my face was turning some shade of red. Sven laughed and suggested lunch. I agreed, at least we have some money to spend on a decent meal. The streets were packed with people surrounding a parade of mascots, belly dancers, and a white car with Tyrant standing on the seat. Now would not be the right time to strike him, too many people and too many guards even though the shot would be clear. Then again, we'd have to get him into custody alive to claim the award.

"Where do you want to eat?" I asked over the loud cheers. Sven scanned the area for any restaurants that seemed decent, and his eyes landed on a dinner just down the street.

"There," he said pointing. "Let's eat there." The dinner was quaint, and had thugs surrounding most of the tables; but we were able to find a booth table that was next to a window. A young waitress, nineteen I decided, came up to us. She had red hair and had an outfit that made her seem more like my age.

"Welcome to Stan's, are you ready to order?" she asked.

"One second," Sven slapped on another smoke pad.

"You smoke?" the waitress asked Sven.

"I'm trying to quit for the kid." He replied.

"Kid, ouch Sven, that hurts, it really does." I say as I turned to the waitress. "One coffee for my partner and," I examined the menu. "You got any milk?" I ask.

The waitress laughed a bit. "Not a kid huh?" she asked.

I frowned. "Hey, half adults drink milk too."

The waitress scribbled down the drink order. "We do have milk, so I'll be back in a minute." After about a minute she came back with our drinks. I looked behind her at the other customers. "Have you been getting a lot of thugs lately?"

The waitress sighed. "We have; ever since Tyrant was elected, gangsters have moved into town looking for extra cash." Then she eyed us. "What about you two?"

"Just touring Italy, it's beautiful this time of year." I say taking a few gulps of milk.

"I'm a gentleman," Sven said. "The young lady wanted to see Italy so I had to take her."

The waitress frowned at us. "Chivalrous people don't last long in this town anymore, so if you two are smart you'd stay hidden, I mean now we're living in a world where people elect a gangster as a governor."

I glanced out a window to Tyrant's car; there was a short woman with long black hair and light blue eyes by his side; his girlfriend maybe or wife, possibly his sister? I sip more of the milk.

There was a scream from behind the waitress; she jerked her head around to two boys surrounding a young girl. "Hey!" she screamed. She threw her tray and it hit the man with spiky blonde hair in the face. The waitress charged at them and they got into a fight. All the while Sven sipped his black coffee and I just stared for a few minutes, then I looked at Sven.

"You're a gentleman so," I gesture over to the fight. Sven sighed and got up. "Go get them Sweeper." I say giving him the thumbs up. Sven then flicked two small red balls into both boys open mouths.

"What is on my tongue?" the one with a black Mohawk asked.

"Suck on that and calm down boys." Sven said walking towards them with me in toe. "Now step away from the ladies." The boys stepped away from the girls and towards Sven and me where they just smirked.

"That's more like it," I say. "And as a reward, I have a couple extra pieces of candy for you." I flicked two of the exact same candies that Sven used into each of their mouths. Their faces turned bright red and sweat rained down their faces.

"What _is_ this?" the blonde boy whimpered. They fell to the floor.

"Nano machines," I say gravely. "Now that those are in your bodies their job is to burn your insides at more than one thousand degrees." The boys panicked and started chugging down gallons of water. I burst out laughing. "Hey, I'm just messing with you!" I say sitting back down at our table. "That's just a little jalapeño candy that's custom made for my partner." Sven had always carried around those for emergencies like this.

"That'll teach them a lesson." Sven said, sipping his coffee. The waitress came back with a huge tray of food.

"Here, eat up as much as you like!" she said.

Sven's face lit up. "Whoa! Are you serious?"

"I am; you just saved us from those dicks!" she said. "You're always welcome here."

I tossed her a sizable tip. "Tip," I say.

"Thank you very much!" she said walking to another table. Me and Sven slowly began to the food that the waitress gave us; steak, burgers, and spaghetti. It was really good stuff.

"Well," I say taking a bite of steak. "Now _this_ is a meal."

"Yeah," Sven said. "But let's get down to business." I look at him and nod. "Ok, we know that right now isn't a good time to grab Tyrant."

"Too many body guards," I say. "We'd be dead in a split second."

"So, I think that the perfect time to strike is at Tyrant's gratitude party."

"Gratitude party, what's that?" I ask taking a bite of burger.

"It's where Lib will be giving a speech of thanks," Sven explained. "You've seen presidents back home give televised speeches when they win elections right?"

"Right," I say.

"The government officials are going to the party along with some of the wealthier pedestrians of Florence. We'll go in to the party and get Tyrant into custody."

"Then we get two million dollars as a reward." I say smiling. "You know, I've always wanted to crash a party Sven."

"I'm glad of your enthusiasm," he said. "But why don't you go shopping for a nice outfit? We need to burn the time anyway."

"Okay, sounds good." I say. For the rest of the afternoon we ate our lunch and I visited the shopping parts of Florence while Sven was bored out of his mind waiting for me. I particularly liked the long white laced tunic, dark denim skirt, black leggings, orange cork screw shoes and charm bracelet combo. Very stylish, very unique, looked like my style. I knew that mom and dad wouldn't notice my new clothes considering they don't notice anything new with us at all. Plenty of Italian boys were staring at me; which was sort of nice, but I'm not really big on boys. Later that evening, me and Sven returned to the cottage and prepared for a party. I had bought Sven a white suit; he looked pretty cool in it.

"Wow, Sven," I say sitting on my bed. "You're going to have to scrape Italian girls off you left and right." Sven rolled his eyes.

"Sure I will," he said sarcastically. "What do you plan on wearing?"

"I brought something from home." I say. "You wait outside ok?" Sven sighed and walked outside. I changed into a red dress and flats; I'm not much of a dress person. Some pale gloss and cleaning later I looked sort of like a Pedestrian, but to be safe I slipped my Austria in the folds of the dress.

I walked downstairs and Sven gave me the thumbs up when he saw me. "Nice,"

"It's nothing much, really so don't try to make a huge fuss out of it." I say. "So, ready to go?" Sven nodded and lead me outside to a cab, and we rode Lib Tyrant's mansion.

Sven wasn't kidding about security, there were guards posted at every door and window. If a Chrono wanted to get in, he or she would have a real hard time getting in unnoticed, and even if they got in and killed Tyrant, how the hell could they get out?

We exited the cab and walked to the door; people did look at us as we made our way into the manor's huge ballroom. Tyrant was standing by a pedestal on a small stage, smiling and waving to his guest. He gave a speech in a voice that reminded me of a wrestling announcer.

"Good evening," he said through the microphone on the pedestal. "I'm sure most of you know me by now, but my name is Lib Tyrant, and I'm very pleased to be your next governor." The crowd applauded, and then went silent. "Let me begin by saying thank you to everyone who supported me throughout this difficult campaign."

"Yeah right," I mutter under my breath. Sven looked around.

"He's got one hell of a security force in here; maybe our Chrono won't have an easy time getting through here unnoticed."

"If it's a number," I say. "I'm pretty sure that he or she will find some way to-" The sound of breaking glass cut me off. I turned to the source, preparing to pull my gun out when I spotted a butler standing over the shattered remains of a wine glass. The butler was thin and short, his face was bright red; that was all the evidence I needed to realize that he was a drunk. He laughed nervously.

"Oops," he laughed. "Stupid me, I have too many drinks and my butterfingers come out." The crowd stared at him for a while, and then focused back on Tyrant's celebratory speech. I put my gun back and looked back at Tyrant.

"Generations to come," he continued. "We'll look on this time as one of great historical impacts." He made a victory fist. "Today is the day that I will have brought peace back to our fair city." The crowd applauded again.

"What a liar," Sven whispered to me. I nodded in agreement. I looked over to my right and saw a man in his late forties with a young blonde haired girl. The man was talking to one of Lib's guards.

I looked over at the little girl; she just kept staring at me. We held each other's gaze for a while, and then she turned away, and then the lights went dark.

"Now I'd like to take a moment to make an important announcement." Tyrant said. A spot light went over the girl that I saw in the car with Tyrant earlier today. "I'd like to introduce my beautiful fiancée, Johanna." She walked up to the stage and into his arms smiling. "We are going to be married next month in a traditional wedding ceremony." The crowd applauded, again. "And you are all invited to be our guests." Lib continued. "I'm sure that like our love, the peace in the city will last forever. I can only promise you one thing." The crowd went silent. "Lib Tyrant will always be a governor for the people!" The crowd responded in another round of excited applause.

"She's too cute to marry a gangster." Sven muttered. The drunken butler came hobbling towards us with an open bottle of wine. I could hardly believe that he could walk, let alone stand with all that alcohol in him. I moved out of the way in time but sadly Sven got splashed in wine.

"Sorry," the butler said in a slurred voice. Sven glared at him, if Sven wasn't a gentleman; drunken dude over here would be dead in the next ten seconds.

"I'm going to go wash up," Sven growled, heading towards the restrooms.

"Ok," I say as he left. "Watch Tyrant," Lib and three body guards were heading towards the restrooms too; this was the perfect chance for Sven to watch Lib.

I was left alone drinking a small glass of sparkling cider, observing the crowd. The orchestra broke into another song, probably to celebrate the announcement of Johanna and Lib's marriage. I looked around at the crowd; no sign of a Chrono anywhere.

I focused back on Tyrant as he came back from the restrooms, but Sven wasn't here. Where could my partner be? It was almost midnight. I _could _try and get Tyrant to safety myself, but that wouldn't be smart. I've done it before, but with a Chrono number somewhere in this crowd; I could be easily exposed. I saw Sven walking towards me, he was pale and out of breath.

"Dude, what happened to you?" I ask.

"I had a vision," he panted.

"Are you serious?" I ask. His right eye could see a few seconds into the future, but I've never seen him do it. He said that every time he uses it; he loses energy and feels totally wiped out later.

"Well?" I ask. "What did you see?"

"I saw Lib," Sven said. "He's going to be shot, in less than two minutes, through the chest." I gasped. I get him a glass of water and he drinks it down in seconds

"Can't we change the future? Isn't there _any_ way to beat him?" I ask.

"If we hurry he can be saved." Sven said handing the glass to me. I nodded. "But it won't be easy; I used the sleeping gas on one of the guards Tyrant sent to knock me down."

"Maybe we can catch the Chrono with the net?" I suggest. "That could work, right?"

"It could," Sven said looking at his briefcase "But it would be a one chance shot. If we miss, if we're too early or too late; boom, game over." He said.

I turned back to Lib; it's actually kind of surprising that he'd be shot in the crowd. He was surrounded by five guards, and they were all over the place; so how could he be shot? I shake it off and look at Sven. "We have to try any and everything." I say. "For starters, we need to keep a close eye on Lib."

"Ok," Sven said. "Just keep your eyes open." I checked Sven's watch, only seconds to Midnight. I kept my gun close at hand as I closely walk one car length besides Lib.

"By the way," Sven whispered. "If you see the Chrono, you have to kill him on sight; a Chrono has a Roman number tattooed on them, remember that."

"I know," I whisper. I walk around the crowd for a bit, I also notice that one of the windows was slightly open, and a guard was lying on the balcony. "Oh crap," I say. The Chrono was already inside.

A black flash suddenly zipped through the crowd, I turned to Sven; he had used the net but caught the drunk butler.

"Kristen!" he cried. "Get to Lib, NOW!" I don't hesitate; I dash towards Lib who was taking his place at the pedestal again and I see one of his guards slump to the floor. I could shoot him now, I had a perfect shot. I pulled out the gun and aimed it at the black flash's chest, but I couldn't pull the trigger, I couldn't do it, I couldn't kill him; there was something about those golden eyes; they revealed something more to this assassin. I was at the stage steps when I hear him in the smallest of whispers.

"I've come to deliver a little bad luck." The Chrono said. And that's when I hear the gunfire.


	3. Chapter 3

Black Cat

I couldn't believe it; I just couldn't believe it, that did not just happen, did it? No, it did. Lib Tyrant collapsed to the ground, dead, his eyes were glassy and blank, and blood began to stain the suit he wore. I felt a chill run down my back, I've shot at least five people in my line of work, but they were never fatal hits; but I've never seen a dead body up close, it was disgusting.

I turned to the crowd, they were confused. Johanna shook her head in disbelief had grief building in her eyes, and then she let out a blood curling scream that made the rest of the crowd scream in panic. Sven was waving to me from the doors, we had to go or we'll be busted. I turn back to Tyrant's dead body; the Chrono wasn't here, but the window just a few steps away was slightly ajar. I sprint to Sven and we hastily escape.

"Come on," Sven gasped as we made it to the iron gates. "We've got to get out of here before the press gets here." I turn to the coven of trees on the other side of the gate; the Chrono was slowly walking away.

"Not yet, I'm going to give this guy a piece of my mind." I say. I shoved the gate open and dart through.

"Kristen!" Sven called, he was close behind me. I didn't listen to him.

"Hey!" I yell. "Hey, Chrono!" the number stopped, but he didn't face us. I pulled out the Austin and aimed it short blank at his back. "_We_ were already here; _we_ were going to take him into live custody, so _you_ didn't need to get involved."

"Yeah," Sven gasped. "And you didn't need to shoot him in the chest. I mean, sure; Lib was scum; but he didn't need to be shot in the chest. No one should die that way."

"Get down," the Chrono said. I heard a whizzing sound on my left side.

"Sven, duck," I say dragging him to the ground as a boomerang shaped blade whizzed over my head, barely missing. The Chrono leaped over the blade as it flew; he must have amazing accuracy if he can leap over them perfectly; which was weird. The person who threw the deadly weapon was the guard I saw fall behind Lib. He was fuming with rage.

"You killed Mr. Tyrant," he bellowed, raising his weapon over his head. "Now you're going to pay for it!" He threw the weapon at Black Cat, he dodged, but not fast enough. The flying blades had cut his face, nothing severe, but enough to send blood flowing down his face and dripping down his chin.

Then surprisingly, Black Cat caught the spinning blade and pinned the guard to a nearby tree; and the guard looked petrified.

"What the hell _are _you?!" the guard cried. The dark assassin looked straight into the guard's eyes, his strange golden eyes staring straight into the guards terrified hazel ones.

"I'm simply," he said, pointing his gun under the guard's chin. "A stray cat, and if you want to stay alive, don't look for me." He pulled the gun away and began to walk away. I point my gun at him but Sven grabs my arm.

"We should just go," he said. "It's not worth it." Reluctantly, I put the semi- away and follow Sven back to the cottage.

We left Florence about ten minutes after we arrived back at the cottage. It only took us a few minutes to pack all of our stuff and head out; but we were silent the whole ride home. When we arrived back at my house it was a little past nine, good thing mom and dad weren't coming until tomorrow evening.

"Hey," Sven said. I turned to face him; he had sympathy in his eyes. "Walk it off kid, sometimes you don't get it."

"This is the first one I didn't get." I say. I have successfully captured every target I chose without issues, so this kind of sucked.

"Well," Sven said. "I've missed at least thirty. We'll get the next one; besides," he said with a grin. "We saw Italy, that's way better than losing one target out of thousands more." I have to smile at him.

"So, I'll see you around then?" I say handing him my semi-automatic as we pulled into the driveway of my house. I get out and retrieve my tote bag.

"You will," he says. "I'll keep an eye out for a mission that's one hundred times better than this one." I close the car door and watch him pull out of the driveway and down the street. Megan and Emma must have seen the car because they opened the door and charged at me.

"You're back!" Emma cried with a hug. "How was Flowers?" She released me and ran inside.

"Florence," I correct as we walk through the front door. "And it was good, but we didn't complete the mission."

"That's okay," Megan said. "I want to hear all about Italy."

"Let me put my bag upstairs, and then I'll tell you about it over dinner." I say heading upstairs. My black cat, Luna, greeted me upstairs on my bed; and I rubbed his ears and he began purring.

"I missed you too," I say. I quickly unpack and join my sisters downstairs for dinner. I tell my sisters about Florence as I cooked on of my easier recipes; instant ramen. We ate while chatting about what we did over the last few days. They just hung out around the house, and they were sorry that the mission failed.

"If I ever see that Chrono," Emma ranted. "I'll draw on his face with permanent ink."

"I'll shoot him the finger," Megan ranted. "If I knew what the finger looked like, I'll make Luna shoot him the paw then!"

"Don't ever ask that question," I say "You'll get grounded for life." I slurped up some of the soup and wiped my mouth against the sleeve of my shirt.

"I'm excited for the Firework's festival!" Megan cheered. "Mom and dad said that they'd take us." The Firework festival, we go every year. It's the kick off for winter, they launch a cluster of fireworks into the sky and we all get to see. I've love fireworks, the colors remind me of flowers blooming in the sky.

"I'm excited too," I say. "But remember, it's still a week away so we have plenty of time, can you two put your empty bowls in the dishwasher?" I ask. They do so, then we head to bed; school began tomorrow. I shower, brush my teeth, and climb into bed wearing sweat pants and a long t-shirt. My black cat, Luna, was on the bed. He woke up and yawned then he purred at me. I pet him and turn off the lights.

And I dream of the scariest thing; a boy, just five or six, finding his parents dead. He crying, wanting them to stay with him, but then he realizes it's too late. Then he looks in my direction, his golden eyes were filled with sorrow and rage.

"You killed them!" he cries. Then he aims some kind of gun at me. "You killed them! Why?" he screamed. I can't speak, my mouth is dry and I've lost the ability to talk so I can't deny his accusations.

"No!" I manage to choke out. The boy pulls the trigger, and I see him age right before the bullet enters my body. He grew from a young boy into, this can't be right, Black Cat, eyes glaring as unforgivable as a prisoner put in jail for murder. Then I can actually feel the impact of the bullet, small and hard. It hurts, god, it hurts. I collapse to the ground, breathing hard as blood pooled underneath me. I look up into Black Cat's eyes, his strange gold eyes; he's standing over me, pointing his gun point blank at my heart.

"I didn't kill them," I choke. "Revenge won't bring them back either!" He didn't listen, all he said was the smallest of words.

"I've come to deliver a little bad luck." He whispers. Then I hear the gunfire, and someone screaming a long continues scream like Johanna when she realized that her fiancée was killed in just seconds in front of her eyes.

I wake up with a terrified jolt. I'm dripping in sweat; my clothes were clinging to me. I sit up, I'm shaking uncontrollably, and my mouth is bone dry. I get out of bed and get a glass of water; at least my mouth is moist now, and I've stopped shaking. I use a towel to wipe away the sweat, it sort of works. I take deep breaths, and look in the mirror. My blonde hair had a serious case of bed head, my blue eyes looked tired. I splash water on my face and climb back into bed. I sleep in peace this time, a dreamless sleep.

I'm awoken by my alarm clock, so I smack the sleep button and pull myself out of bed. I'm in zombie mode, as mom and dad put it. I drag my tired body to the bathroom, and do the same things as last night; shower, brush teeth, comb hair, etc. I change into the clothes that I bought in Italy, not that dad would notice much, but for precautions I throw my navy blue school spirit sweatshirt over my clothes, and then I toss my backpack over my shoulder, and retrieve my navy school spirit sweatshirt.

When I get downstairs, I see dad, he must've gotten home last night. He's sitting at the table, sipping coffee and reading the paper. He looks at me with a grin.

"Hey," he says. "Sleep well?"

"Not really," I say putting a bagel in the toaster. "How was, where did you go?"

"Paris," he says. "I got something for you," he hands me a white box. Inside was a silver necklace with a crystal cat on it.

"It's beautiful," I say putting it on. I really did like it, but as a half adult I had to surface a certain level of maturity. I poured a cup of orange juice and sat at the counter.

"Glad you like it," he says. "It just looked like you, and there was a rumor about an assassin running around Europe," I nearly choke on my orange juice. Oh crap. I'm thinking.

"Assassin?" I gasp.

"That's the rumor," he says flipping the page in the paper. "He hit Florence last night, killed Lib Tyrant." Please don't let there be a picture of me and Sven. I think. One thing does calm me though; the press was taking photos of Lib and Johanna, me and Sven stayed in the back of the crowd and we left before the press showed up. "Do you need a lift to school?" dad asks.

"I can drive there," I say putting my sweatshirt on. Then I bite into the bagel and grab my car keys from the rack by the garage door.

"You did a good job taking care of your sisters." Dad comments as I toss my backpack over my shoulder.

"Thanks," I say kissing him on the forehead as I walk through the door and into the garage. There were two cars; a shiny black Nisan and a slightly shiny Subaru. I saved up for it since I was eleven. I climb into the Subaru and pressed a button to open the garage, turned on the ignition, and pulled out with ease. Dad stopped me before I left, I rolled down the window.

"Forgetting something?" he asks handing me my school's parking space ticket.

"Thanks," I say taking it. I really should keep this in the car at all cost.

"Have a great day." He says. I nod, rolled the window up again, and then drove to Meridian High School.

It was a big structure, if you used your imagination; it almost looked like a combined city, or a train station, or a mental asylum. Tons of students surrounded the building; I know that three quarters of the students were waiting for the buses to take them to Renaissance, the really fancy school that rumors say that the people who messed up the blue prints and now it's the size of a college.

I pull over into the student parking spot and switch off the ignition. I grab my bag and lock the car on my way into the building. God, early November was so freaking cold, I should have worn my red winter coat. I get into the building and head upstairs to my locker; it was a top one so it came to my advantage because most people who have bottom lockers has to ask people to move every day. I dialed the combination and put my stuff inside along with my sweatshirt, then head to Global Perspective as my first class.

I was about to head into the class when Aaron Dawson, a red haired, blue eyed, tall boy who was one of the most popular guys in class, stopped me.

"Uh," I say as he stood in the doorway. "H-hi Aaron,"

"Hey, Kristen," he said. "I wanted to know if you were planning to go to the Firework festival on Saturday." he asks.

"Y-yeah, I am," I say.

"Really, maybe you and I can go together?" he asks. Wait, did he just ask me out? O_O

"Together?" I ask. "You mean, like a date?"

"Yeah," he says. "So what do you think?" Well, this is a first. I've never been on a date before so this is kind of new.

"The Fireworks Festival," I say. "Yeah, sure we can go together." Aaron smiled.

"Hey, great, how about I meet you there at five?" he says.

"Yeah, sounds good," I say. "I'll see you then?"

"See you then," he says heading back to join his friends in the class. I just stand there for a while trying to absorb what just happened. My best friend Claire came up to me, she had olive skin, long black hair and cinnamon eyes.

"Hey what's going on?" she asks. I blink a few times.

"I think Aaron Dawson just asked me out." I say. Claire gasped and looked at me.

"Are you serious?" she demands.

"I think so, he asked me to join him at the festival on Saturday." Claire squealed and jumped up and down.

"You are so freaking lucky!" she says.

"I guess so but," I say. "I've never been on a date before."

"Just be you!" she says.

"Well," I say frowning. "I'm sullen and hostile."

"On the outside you are," she said pointing to my chest. "But on the inside you are a hilarious, charming, slightly childish girl who likes anime, milk, and trying new foods."

"Claire I don't think, what if I mess up?" I say.

"You'll be fine," she says waving a hand. "Your charming, your one of the most fun people I know, just be yourself." I sigh.

"Ok, it's a date then," I say. Claire congratulates me.

"I'll see you later then," she says walking down the hall.

"Yeah, see you," I say walking into my classroom. My teacher, Mr. Simmons was planning to give this boring lecture.

"Everyone, take your seats," he says. "Today we will be learning about North Korea." So for the next seven in a half minutes our teacher gave us a boring lecture about North Korea, and that a peace treaty with North America was never signed after the war, and that blindness caused by a fogginess in the eye's lens could be replaced, and etcetera, etcetera, on and on. Half of the class was barely awake.

Thankfully the phone rang, giving us a breather. The teacher answered it, and after a few minutes he turned to me.

"Ms. Lusk," he said. "There's someone downstairs at the front office who wants to see you and a man named Sven." I blink.

"Ok," I say getting up. "Should I pack up my things?"

"Yeah," The teacher said. "Do you need to call this Sven?"

"Yes," I say. "But I'll do it outside." I pick up my stuff and head out the door. "Bye," I say. I stop by my locker and pack my backpack. When I close my locker I call Sven and ask him to stop by my school. He was puzzled, but he didn't hesitate. I sling my backpack over my shoulder and head down the concrete stairs. When I enter the office, there's no one here.

"Are you Ms. Lusk?" The receptionist asks.

"Yes," I say.

"There's a woman outside looking for you," she says. I sign out and leave. As I open the doors to outside, a blonde woman ran into me.

"Please!" she cried. "Please! You have to help me! There are some bad people after me!" She was tall, at least twenty one. She had blonde hair, a red heart necklace, an orange jacket, shorts, a brown shirt and knee length boots. But I was a little disturbed at her shirt; they revealed pretty much her boobs. And god, they were huge. ._.'

There was a strong jerk and the woman was pulled away from me. She was screaming as a tall man pulled her outside. I run after them and run straight into Sven.

"Yo!" he says. "What's your hurry?"

"There!" I point. The poor woman was being smothered by five other men. She was screaming as they practically rubbed up against her.

"Boys," Sven said coolly. "Be nice and let the pretty girl be."

"Yeah, well, what are you going to do about it geezer?" The first one asked.

"Yeah geezer, go yell at some kids to get off your lawn." The second one said.

"Yeah gramps!" the third one said. Sven was silent for a moment. Now they've done it.

"I'M NOT A GEEZER I AM A GENTLEMAN!" Sven roared. Then he went ninja on the gangsters, I pulled the woman aside as Sven beat the shit out of them. It seemed comical actually. Sven caught the gangsters in a net and turned back to us.

"Sorry about that," he said. "Now, what can we do for you Ms.?" The young woman smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

Kidnapper

Apparently our mysterious woman was incredibly grateful. So grateful that she took me and Sven to a fancy Asian themed bar and grill restaurant in Boise, and bought us both lunch. We sat at a booth by a glass waterfall in the more reserved part of the place. Sven wolfed down his food while I stared suspiciously at our mysterious woman. She kept smiling throughout the whole meal with her eyes shut.

"So," I say trying to start some sort of conversation. "Can I ask you your name?" I elbowed Sven and he stopped for a split second.

"Ellen," she said. Then Sven went back to eating.

"So how do you know about us?" I ask.

"You are two of Idaho's best Sweepers," Ellen says. "So I decided to ask you for help."

"What sort of help?" Sven asked.

"It's my little sister," Ellen said sadly.

"What's wrong with her?" I ask.

"She's…" Ellen looked like she was about to burst into tears. "She's been kidnapped by Torneo Rudman!"

"Torneo Rudman?" Sven asks. "The weapon dealer? We saw him at Lib Tyrant's manor, weird convenience." Then he sipped a bit of coffee. I think back to the party. I remember seeing a man in his late forties accompanied by a little girl.

"What would Torneo want with your little sister?" I ask.

"He's going to do some very bad things to her," Ellen wailed. "I love her so much, so please, will you help me get her back?"

"I don't know…" I say suspiciously.

"I can pay you if you want." Ellen said. "Is this enough?" then she slapped down an enormous stack of cash. Sven was so shocked that he spit coffee in Ellen's face. She shrieked and Sven began apologizing rapidly.

"Smooth," I mutter. "Real smooth," Then I took a bite of pot sticker.

Since it was an apparent custom for a gentleman, Sven drove Ellen back to her hotel room in the Grove Hotel in Boise City. I've never been in a five star hotel, and the sheets on the bed were really soft.

Sven and I waited in the room for Ellen to get done with her shower. It seemed like forever. When she came out Sven went straight to the apology for the millionth time in an hour.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "But it's been a while since we were offered so much cash."

"No, it's fine, that's the ransom money I was planning to give to Torneo. But I don't want to take the risk of him lying and keeping my sister and taking the money. " Ellen laughed. It didn't seem right somehow. "But you still haven't given me a straight answer about the job." She looked at me. "Will you do it, uh…?"

"My name is Kristen Lusk," I say. I look at Sven, he nodded, code for 'let's do it'. I sigh and look straight at Ellen. "We'll take the case." Ellen smiled and squealed.

"Oh thank you!" she cried. "He has my sister in California, we'll go tonight!"

"Tonight, you mean tonight a.s.a.p.?" I ask. "I can't! My parents are home!" Sven thought about this for a while, and then snapped his fingers.

"I have an idea, you can call your parents and ask them to go to Claire's house to work on your Earth Science project, and that you'll spend the night with her and catch a ride with her to school." I think about this, it _seemed_ possible.

"Ok," I say getting my phone out. "Ms. Ellen, tonight, you'll be reunited with your sister."

"He takes her to his villa on the second Sunday of every month, they stay there until Tuesday, and then he takes her back to his mansion in Beverly Hills." Ellen explained as we, dangerously, headed up the mountain.

"He takes his hostage to his private villa on the second Sunday of every month?" I ask. "Who does that?"

"I don't know." Ellen said. "They do a lot of crazy stuff up there."

"Well," Sven panted as he 'biked' up a rope to the mountain. "We're doing something pretty crazy ourselves."

"And remind me again _why_ we didn't go up the mountain and went _up _the mountain instead?" I ask. When I say up, I literally mean up. As in we are biking up a rope hanging off the side of a cliff.

"There are so many guards up there." Ellen said. "It's safer this way."

"This is safer, _right_, why didn't I realize that?" I say sarcastically. It took us several minutes but we got to the top of the cliff soon enough. We were greeted with a surprise; several guards, all with bloated cheeks, were on the ground, not moving.

"Are they dead?" Ellen asked. Sven walked over to one and checked a pulse.

"No," he said straightening. "They're all just unconscious." I check one; his cheek was red and swollen. It looked like he was hit with something, hard. Kind of reminded me of Rurouni Kenshin.

"It seems like they were all knocked out by one great swing." I say. I straighten. "Now, Ellen, where is your sister?" Ellen pointed to an open window. Of course she'd want to go in through the window. We crawl through and find more guards, all slumped to the ground.

"I don't think we're alone." Sven said tightening the grip around his briefcase. I nod and we follow a trail of unconscious guards.

We finally came across a room that was cracked slightly. I look through and get another surprise, this one was worse. The blonde girl from the party was sitting in a chair facing the left wall. A person was pointing a gun at her. I couldn't tell who it was until I saw the slightest gleam of his golden eyes.

"Black Cat," I whisper in shock. He was about to pull the trigger. I turn to Sven. "It's Black Cat; he's going to kill her." Sven didn't hesitate.

"Don't pull that trigger!" Sven exclaimed as he shoved the doors open. Black Cat stopped, but he didn't give us as so much as a glance.

"Stay out of this," he said softly.

"No way, you foiled our case the first time," I say pointing the semi-automatic pistol at him. "I'm not letting you ruin this one too!"

"Please!" Ellen begged. "You can just walk away from this."

"I can't, it's my job," Black Cat said. The little girl lightly grabbed his gun.

"Blood…" she said softly. "I can smell blood all over your hands…"

"You'd point a gun at an innocent child; that sounds like Chronos to me." Sven said.

"It's my job," Black Cat repeated. "She has to die." He started pulling the trigger again.

"So that's it huh?" I say. "You just do whatever Chronos asks of you. Just like a puppet for them to control, a pawn in their game." Black Cat stopped. Then he glanced at me, his gaze met mine but I refused to be intimidated. "I won't let you kill an innocent child," I say slowly. Then I clicked the pistol. "Even if I have to kill you, so back up or get blasted." I began to pull the trigger back.

"I think that's quite enough," a male voice said. I stop and whip around. Twelve guards, a tall skinny man with crew cut ash hair, and Torneo Rudman, a man in his late forties with greying hair and an expensive suite were standing behind us.

"Crap," I mutter.

"Well, looks like a stray cat and a couple of rats have wandered into our house." Torneo said smugly. "Black Cat, this is certainly a surprise." He laughed. "And not only that; a Sweeper, a mouse, and a kid, how terrifying,"

"I'm not a kid!" I exclaim.

"I'm not a rat I'm a gentleman!" Sven cried.

"You'll all be dead in a second." Torneo said. The twelve guards pointed their guns at us and I heard an excessive click.

"Sven," I say through gritted teeth. "Please tell me you have something to get us out of this mess."

"Stay close to me." He whispered. I slowly side step towards him. Ellen did too. I kept my eye on Black Cat to make sure that the girl didn't get shot. Even though I'm not buying her kidnapped story anymore, I didn't want her to die.

"What do we do Sven?" Ellen whimpered.

"Don't look straight at the briefcase," he said. He pressed the second button and a blinding white light spilled out of the briefcase. I see why Sven told us to stay close to him, I couldn't see anything. But I could tell that the diversion was working by the shrieks. Sven grabbed me by the arm and began dragging me backwards towards the giant window.

"Shoot them!" I heard a voice say.

"No! You might hit Eve!" Eve? Is that the little girl's name? Well right now wasn't the best time to ask.

"Duck your head!" Sven cried. The light began going out. I looked to my right and saw Black Cat running with us. Not _with_ us but besides us. We exchanged one more glance before I ducked my head and heard glass shattering and felt the cool evening air. I saw small shards of glass flying past us. Then I heard Ellen screaming, because we just jumped off a cliff. I could feel gravity pulling us to the solid ground.

"WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" Ellen shrieked. Sven pulled both of us closer to him.

"KRISTEN!" he cried. "SIXTH BUTTON, PRESS IT NOW!" I don't question him; I push the sixth button on Sven's briefcase. A hang glider, a small one, extended and we were flying to safety. Well, a place safer than here. I looked behind me and I could see Black Cat running down the mountain trail. Who _is_ this guy?

"So!" Sven called over the wind. "What now?"

After we had sort of safely landed in a bush of someone's backyard, we had to walk to the hotel we were staying at. It took us an hour but we were able to make it. The hotel resembled a castle in some ways and we decided to order room service. Mom and dad left a message that said that they were heading over to New York for a meeting and wouldn't be back until the day after tomorrow. Also it's a snow day back home so no school. I was relieved; the last thing I needed was to be scolded by mom and dad for missing school.

I sat on the bed of the hotel as we ate a late breakfast. I looked at Ellen for a while, and then focused on fiddling with a napkin. I folded it into an origami cat and set it on the coffee table.

"I didn't know you knew origami." Ellen commented.

"It's no secret that I know it," I hold a cup of tea up to my mouth. "So why don't you tell me yours?"

"Excuse me?"

"She's right," Sven said. "And don't tell the 'my kid-sister's been kidnapped' story."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Why would Black Cat target your innocent sister?" I ask. "And why would Torneo want her?"

"Maybe you should drop the act," Sven said. "Ms. Rinslet Walker, thief for hire?" She was quiet for a while. Then she smiled.

"Sure, I was getting sick of this wig anyway." Her light airy voice dropped replaced by a more stern tone. She reached for her long, blonde hair and pulled it off, revealing short, purple hair. "Not bad for an Ex International Agent and a half-adult." Rinslet Walker is one of the best thieves for hire in the world. She's rich, and a master of disguise. But why would she want us?

"So spill it," I say taking a sip of tea. "What's the _real_ deal with Torneo?" Rinslet nodded and went serious.

"Remember the little girl from last night?"

"What about her?" I ask.

"She's the world's foremost bioweapon." Rinslet said.

"Now how can she be a bioweapon?" Sven asked taking a sip of coffee.

"Have you ever heard of nanotechnology?" Rinslet asked.

"In Science we're learning about nanotech," I say. "But we only started the topic yesterday."

"So," Rinslet said. "What do you know?"

"Uh…" I think. "Nanotechnology can be used to fix genetic diseases?" Rinslet nodded.

"Nanotech can be used to alter a person's DNA," she explained. "Tiny machines, smaller than the tip of a pin are involved with the study." She frowned. "But they can also create a weapon." I raise my eyebrows in question. Even Sven took interest in what she had to say. "Have you also heard of the military base that inexplicably blew up?" she asks.

"Yeah," Sven said. "There was a military lab that blew up without reason. More than ten thousand people were killed. It was a horrible accident." He let out a long sigh. "It's not one of those things you can forget about."

"But what if it _wasn't_ an accident?" Rinslet asked.

"What?"

"The facility accident was caused by Torneo Rudman." She said. "He used the accident as a cover-up so he could steal the nanotechnology. Now he plans to sell his creation to the highest bidder."

"But that's insane!" I cry. "Thousands of people had to die just so this monster could make a few bucks?" the whole idea was monstrous.

"Wait," Sven said. "That would mean the girl,"

"Correct," Rinslet said. "Engineered out of stolen nanotechnology to become the world's most powerful bioweapon," I blink back the astonishment. That girl, is a bioweapon? That would explain why there were so many security guards.

"I get it now," I say. "I'm guessing the Government asked you to steal back that technology?" Rinslet broke into a huge smile.

"Well yeah!" she said. "And if I finish this mission I'll get a huge amount of cash and perhaps a parade to celebrate!"

"Yeah, a parade," Sven said. -_-'"So why do you need us?"

"I need you two to help me," she said. "You two are Idaho's best Sweepers, so are you in?"

"I'm pretty sure we're Idaho's _only_ Sweepers." I mutter. I've never really seen another Sweeper in Idaho besides Sven. I heard that there was a girl named Saya who was a Sweeper, but I've never seen her.

"Well, I don't back down from a job," I say. "I'm in, besides, Torneo is on the list of people that are to be arrested."

"Well," Sven said. "I can't exactly leave you alone, so fine," He put his coffee cup on the table, and then he stood up. "I'm going for a walk, are you coming?"

"Yeah I need the fresh air," I say standing up.

"Ok fine," Rinslet said. "I'll do all the hard work while you two slack off."

"Sure," I say waving to her behind my shoulder. "I have some work of my own to do anyway." I closed the door and followed Sven into the California streets.


	5. Chapter 5

Ice Cream

The hours slipped by slowly as me and Sven explored California. He would try wine, I'd say hi to people. It was one of the calmest moments I've had in a long time. It wasn't until late afternoon until we stopped in a park and sat on a bench in the shade.

I crumpled up a candy bar wrapper and threw it towards the waste basket. It bounced off the rim and hit the ground. I frown.

"Walk of shame," Sven teased. He threw a cigarette butt towards the trash can too. It bounced off the rim too. He frowned and got up. I threw my wrapper away and gazed around the park; not too many people here, but the people that were here was laughing, eating ice cream, just enjoying themselves. But then something, or someone, caught my eye; a little girl was quietly observing a group of pigeons. She had long blonde hair, and odd red eyes. I heard Rinslet's words echo in my head.

"_She's the world's foremost bioweapon,_" I gulped.

"Sven," I say.

"What?"

"It's her," I point her out. "The bioweapon, Eve," Sven's eyes were as big as saucers.

"Oh shit," he muttered.

"What do we do?" I ask. "Do we grab her now?" Sven glanced around the park.

"I don't see any guards, weird. Maybe they're hidden around here." I looked around; no one.

"I think we should grab her now," I say.

"Are you _nuts_?!" he cried.

"Sven, it's best to get this over with." I say. "We'll approach her slowly and then take her back to Rinslet."

"Ok, fine," he says. Then we slowly walked behind the girl. "Easy now, I don't want to scare her because I don't want to die." Sven muttered. We were just behind her when she turned around and faced us. I cried out a bit, Sven recoiled.

"Who are you?" she asked in a quiet, steady voice.

"Who am I?!" Sven blurted.

"Yes," Then Eve turned back to observing the pigeons.

"I'm the-" I elbowed him. He blinked, and then talked in the calmest voice he could project. "Say, what are you doing out here all by yourself young lady?" he asked.

"I…" she said. "I am a demon." She reached out to the pigeons. "A demon…" They all flew away in surprise. Feathers fell to the ground lightly. She had the same facial expression, but I could tell she was sad.

"Uh, why don't you sit with us at that bench?" I offer. Eve looked at me, and stood up. She walked to the bench and sat. Sven sat next to her while I stood.

"Can you tell me why you're so far from where you're from?" Sven asked.

"Could... could you tell me where I am?" she asked.

"You're not lost, are you?" I ask.

"Lost… no…" she said. "I am simply… a demon… in search of prey… this is a demon chase… I must find my target or it'll never end…" Demon chase, that's what some people call tag. Could Torneo have taught her to go after her targets, making her think it's a game of tag? Sven started chuckling, and then he burst out laughing. Poor guy; he must be _really_ terrified.

"Why are you laughing?" Eve asked. Sven gulped and stopped abruptly. He looked around, a small pigeon hopped in front of us.

"I'm laughing, because I, love pigeons!" Sven said. "They're such cute little animals; I can't help but laugh!"

"Will you feed them?" Eve asked. Sven started searching his pockets frantically.

"Hey, Sven," I say. "Didn't we run out of bird feed when we were feeding them earlier today?" That's a cover up.

"Yeah, we did!" he said, relived.

"I see…" Eve said. She still looked sad; and I hate seeing people sad. In some ways, she reminds me of Emma; they both loved birds. Emma would take nuts off of candy bars and then throw them to chipmunks. She's take pieces off her sandwiches and toss to the birds. So sweet, so innocent, I'd die for her. Sven caught my gaze.

"If you wait here," Sven said getting up. "I'll be back with a treat." Then he ran across the park.

"Treat?" Eve asked. Sven came back a minute later with three ice cream cones.

"Ice cream," Sven said. I got vanilla, he got mint, and the girl got strawberry. "Eat up, it's delicious!" Sven said licking his.

"What about the birds?" Eve asked.

"We feed ourselves, and _then_ the birds." Sven said. I give him the thumbs up. I watched Eve; she eyed the ice cream cone a bit, and then gave it a tentative lick. Her face lit up in surprise.

"I've never tasted anything so cold and sweet." She said.

"And the stuff melts right in your mouth!" Sven said. "It's the perfect treat for such a warm day in the park." I nod in agreement. Eve was already licking through her cone, getting ice cream around her face.

"Ice cream…" she said. "Is very good…" then she continued licking. Sven fished a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to Eve.

"You might want to clean your mouth." He said. Eve cleaned her mouth off.

"You know," I say. "There are more foods out there to get excited over than a strawberry ice cream cone."

"What other foods are there?" she asked. Sven stood up.

"Oh there's lots of food out in the world!" he said. "You'll have lots of favorites!"

"What are your favorites?" Eve asked.

"Well there is steak, coffee, cigarettes and beer…" he stopped. "But those are just my favorites." Not to mention that three out of four are gross, and illegal to kids and half adults. I think.

"There's also chocolate, tiramisu, pudding, cheesecake…" he stopped again. "I should be recommending healthier foods."

"There's so many to choose from…" she says. "There's… so much I don't know about the outside world." Then she went back to eating her ice cream.

This is the scary bioweapon? Because in my book; this is not a bioweapon. This is a sheltered girl who's been kept away from the world. Sven finished off the ice cream part of the ice cream cone leaving, well, the cone. Then he crushed it in his hands.

"Watch this," he said. "Come and get it!" He threw the cone crumbs into the air and they fell onto the ground. A dozen pigeons flew towards us, pecking at the crumbs. The faintest of smiles softened Eve's face. She broke off a piece of her cone and tossed it to a bird.

"By the way," I say throwing a piece of cone to the birds. "I'm Kristen, and this is Sven. What's your name?" I ask. I already knew her name, but I think that it's best to ask.

"Eve…" she said. I knew it.

"Say, Eve," I say. "Why don't you, Sven and I go and eat some good food?"

"What other foods are good?" she asked.

"There's lots of food out there besides ice cream, you'll love it!" Sven said. "Of course there's pizza, spaghetti, not to mention burgers." I could tell by Eve's face she was thinking.

"You promise to take me to go eat something good?" Eve asked. I suck out my pinky finger to her.

"I promise," I say. She wrapped her finger around mine, then Sven's.

"Say," Sven said. "I think they sold hotdogs at one of the carts over there. Kristen, why don't you come with me?" I nod.

"Wait here ok, Eve?" I ask.

"Ok," she said. I walk after Sven to the hotdog vender.

"Sven," I say. "What can we do? We _can't_ turn Eve in. She'll be transferred to military scientists to be studied if she truly is a bioweapon."

"I know," Sven said. "But what can we do?" I think. This is an issue; I would feel guilty if I turned little Eve into the military, but if we didn't… god… this situation sucks like hell.

"I've got nothing," I say.

"Let's just get Eve to Rinslet for now," Sven says. I turn around and see a flurry of pigeons. Then I see the blonde guard from last night grab Eve by the wrist. How did they find her? Then I see the gold bracelet with a blinking light; a tracking device.

"You're coming with me Eve!" he said dragging her to a black car. I sprint towards her.

"LET GO OF HER!" I scream. I trip, just in time too, the man fired bullets at me. I ducked for cover. I looked up in time to see the car door close. Just as Sven got to me the car began to drive away. "EVE!" I scream. I try to run after the car, but obviously they were too fast for me to catch up with.

"Sven, we have to go after them!" I pant. "I can't let them take her!"

"Kristen, listen to me," he said. He had worry and sympathy in his eyes. "We'll get her back, you're right, she's just a kid. But for now, we have to get back to Rinslet."

"You were with the bioweapon all afternoon and you didn't even call me?!" Rinslet cried as Sven packed his latest inventions in his briefcase.

"She is _not_ a bioweapon." I say. "She may be filled with Nano machines, but she's still a girl. Just a sheltered girl who was kept away from the world, she's not a bioweapon in my book." Rinslet blinked a few times.

"Ok, what's your plan?" she asks.

"Simple," Sven said. "We'll get to Torneo's mansion, and cause a diversion." Sven closed the briefcase. "Torneo will then send Eve out, and that's when we'll get our girl."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Rinslet cried. "THAT'S YOUR PLAN; WHAT IF IT DOESN'T WORK OUT?!"

"We have a secret, last-resort weapon," Sven pointed to the eye patch. "If things get worse, I'll use my right eye."

"Sven, you'd risk using your vision eye for her?" I ask. He nodded.

"Vision eye?" Rinslet asked.

"My right eye can see a few seconds into the future," Sven explained. "It was a last gift from Lloyd, my first partner." He frowned. "But this is a last resort. Because if I use it; I'll be drained of energy."

"While we hunt down Eve," I say. "You can do your thief thing and get back the technology, but you have to promise me something."

"What?" Rinslet asked.

"If you get the technology back, you will not turn Eve in." I order. Rinslet considered this a moment.

"Alright, deal."

"Well than what are we waiting for?" Sven said grabbing the briefcase by the handle. "We got to go save Eve."


	6. Chapter 6

A Different Animal

"Well?" I call up to Rinslet who was high in a nearby tree. "Do you see anything?"

"Hey, don't rush me." She called down. We, as in me, Sven, and Rinslet, were standing in front of a concrete wall with iron bars at the top. On the other side of the wall was Torneo Rudman's mansion, and somewhere inside was a young bioweapon girl named Eve.

I walk over to Sven, who stood waiting at the front gates. Rinslet came down from the tree and followed us.

"What've you got?" I ask.

"There are ten guards surrounding the area, and a laser grid over the walls." She said. Then she knitted her eyebrows together. "What exactly do you plan to do?" she asks. "Not even Black Cat can get in there unnoticed, let alone you two."

"Nonsense, Rinslet my fair thief." Sven said holding out a red ball with a cartoon cat drawn on it and a fuse sticking out of it. "We're going to walk right in through the front doors." He attempted to light the ball with a lighter. It clicked several times before the fuse caught.

"What's that?" Rinslet asked.

"Watch," Sven said throwing it at the gates. A puff of purple smoke shot out with a loud hiss, then nothing.

"Well? Is it going to explode or something?" she asked.

"No, blowing up a wall would get us noticed." Sven said. A few seconds later, a cat walked up to the ball and pawed it. It was joined by two more cats. They started meowing and pawing the ball.

"Is that it?" Rinslet asked. Sven frowned.

"Yeah, we're going to need more than three cats." I say. Sven, determination driving his every move, lit several red balls and threw them at the gate. Seconds later, we were standing in a sea of cats of all sizes, colors, and breeds.

"What the…?" Rinslet cried. "What did you just throw?!"

"My cat luring grenade," Sven said proudly as the cats broke into a chorus of meows. "It works like a charm." I pet a black one and straighten.

"Nice," I say. The diversion Sven was planning seemed to be working, because a few seconds later the front gates opened. Two guards, their faces full of surprise, stepped out.

"What the?" one asked.

"What's with all the cats?" the second one said.

"Who cares, just get them out of here! Shoo!" The two tried to shoo the cats away, leaving the gate open. Sven sprinted towards the gates with me and Rinslet in toe. Sven smacked the two guards down.

"See?!" Sven cried as he knocked down more approaching guards. "I told you we'd walk in through the front door!"

"This is insane!" Rinslet cried as she beat down another three guards.

"Well that's us for you; always taking risks!" I say punching a guard in the face. He fell over like a sack of potatoes and lost a tooth. We were half way across the courtyard, with about a dozen cats following us, when a black flash darted ahead of us.

"Oh no, not you," I cry. "Sven, we've got company!"

"Great Sven; not only did your catnip thing attract every feline in a ten mile radius, they also attracted Black Cat!" Rinslet cried.

"That's just his name!" Sven exclaimed. "Come on!" We started running after Black Cat with a vengeance into the mansion and up a long flight of stairs. Rinslet turned and began to head down a flight of stairs into I don't know where.

"I'm going to find Torneo's lab!" She called. "I'll meet back up with you later!"

"Just do whatever the heck you want! Just be careful!" I cry.

"I'm always careful!" Rinslet called. We went our separate ways, sort of.

I was right next to Sven as we dashed after Black Cat. I couldn't help but admire not only his speed, but his accuracy. He was able to take down every guard he came across, destroy every security camera he came across, and still manage to check every room.

"Sven!" I say. "There's no way we can catch up to him, every step we take, he takes five!"

"I guess this is our last resort." Sven said reaching for his right eye.

"Sven are you sure?" I ask.

"Eve's grown on me," he said. "And she's grown on you too, she's worth it." He removed the eye patch, and revealed his green eye. After a few seconds, his pace slowed. "Kristen," he gasped. "Go down the next hall on the left and go up those stairs." I nod and led him up the stairs while Black Cat continued down the hall.

After a few turns and about what seemed like a hundred flight of stairs; we quickly entered the nearest room and slammed the door and I fired a bullet right into the security camera. Thank god it was Eve's room. She was sitting on a cushion by the window. I noticed she had a flower on her shirt that sort of looked like a speaker.

"Eve," I sigh. I take a few deep breaths, set Sven against a wall, and slowly walked towards Eve. "Eve, remember us?"

"Kristen…" she said.

"And Sven," Sven panted. He smiled and slumped to the floor. And with shaking hands, he tied the eye patch back over his right eye. I also notice that Eve's left cheek was red.

"Did Torneo hit you?" I ask. She didn't answer. "He did, didn't he?" I say. How could he do such a thing to someone like her?

Sven got up and walked over to us. "Well," he said. "Ready to go, Eve?"

"Go where?" Eve asked.

"Don't you remember the promise we made?" Sven asked. "We promised that we'd take you to go eat some good food." He popped something into Eve's mouth; a small pink ball. She shifted it a bit in her mouth. "Tastes pretty sweet right?" Sven asked. "It's candy!" She seemed a bit occupied with the taste. Sven cleared his throat. "Alright, Eve!" he said in an excited tone. "Let's go and eat the great food the world has to offer!" she still was occupied with the candy. "Uh, Eve," Sven said. "We're kind of in a hurry." She gulped. Oh crap, did she just swallow it whole?!

"Sven, she swallowed it whole!" I cry. Sven cried out in worry and began shaking Eve.

"Oh my god!" he cried. "NO! DON'T SWALLOW THAT WHOLE! AHH!" he screamed. As worried as I was, I had to admit that the whole thing seemed a bit comical. Eve luckily spit it back out, and then tucked it back in her mouth.

"Whew…" I say plopping down on the cushion. "That was too close…"

"Uh, Eve, that's a jawbreaker and you could choke on it if you swallow it whole." Sven explained. A sheen of sweat rolled down Sven's face. Eve pulled out a dirty handkerchief and attempted to wipe it away. Sven noticed. "Oh, gross! Get that thing off my face!" he cried. Closer examination revealed that it was his handkerchief.

"Sven," I say. "Isn't that yours?" He blinked.

"Yeah," he said. "It is." I try to remember. Sven gave it to Eve at the park; she used it to clean her mouth after eating the ice cream; and now she has it here, hours later, unwashed. Sven realized this as Eve pressed it up against his face again.

"Uh," I say.

"AW GROSS!" Sven cried. "GET THAT THING OFF MY FACE WHO KNOWS HOW MANY GERMS IT'S CARRYING!" I had to hold in a laugh. I look at Eve, yes; she's just a sheltered girl, kept away from everything good this world has to offer.

"So, Eve," I say. "Are you ready to go?"

"He's here," she said. I raise my eyebrows in curiosity, and then I see the silhouette. A second too late, because the next thing I know, I see glass break, and Black Cat leapt through the window. Eve hopped off the cushion.

"Eve," Torneo's voice said from the flower thingy. "This is it," Black Cat aimed his pistol point blank at Eve's head. "Begin the game of demon chase! Kill Black Cat!"

"Don't do it, Eve!" Sven cried.

What happened next was so fast. Eve's right hand shot out and began to morph. Her entire arm transformed into a blade, a long one, and it was just inches away from Black Cat's face.

"I smell blood on your hands…" Eve whispered. "I smell blood on your hands… I smell blood on your hands… I am a demon… I am a demon…"

Rinslet's words echoed in my head again. _She's the world's foremost bioweapon._ But when she said bioweapon, I didn't expect this. Torneo was actually creating living, breathing weapon. Super humans, I've only read about those in Science Fiction books, but this is way scarier.

"Do it, Eve, you're the demon!" Torneo ordered. "Kill Black Cat!" Eve paused for a moment.

"I am a demon… you are prey…" she said. Oh my god, she was going to do it.

"Don't listen to him!" I cried.

"Do it, Eve! Kill him! You're the demon!" Torneo ordered again.

"Stay out of this Torneo!" Sven shot. "Eve, you're not a demon!"

"Well, look at this, the rats came in with the cat." Torneo sneered.

"I'm no rat!" Sven shot. "I'm a Sweeper and a gentleman! And she is too!"

"Sweeper…" Black Cat echoed.

"Listen, Eve," I beg. "Let us keep our promise, let's go eat…"

"Something good," Eve finished. The jawbreaker shifted in her mouth. Her hand began to morph again, transforming back into her right hand that fell to her side.

"I'm sorry…" Black Cat said. "The girl has to die right here and now; you know what she's capable of."

"If you do I'll shoot you!" I say pointing my pistol at him.

"It's my job." He said. His voice stayed calm, but I could tell that he was growing impatient. I sneer at him.

"You'd kill a child without blinking." Sven said to Black Cat, he began to pull the trigger back. "Sounds like Chronos to me, using you as a pawn in their game, nothing but SCUM!" And with those words, Sven falcon punched him in the face and grabbed Eve's hand.

"We're outta here!" I say. We opened the door, and Torneo was right in front of us.

"AHHHHH! O:" We cried, except Eve of course.

"Son of a biscuit, you're sneaky." I pant.

"Eve, what are you doing?" Torneo asked. "I told you to kill Black Cat." I look back at him, he was testing his jaw. Eve grab hold of Sven's arm and clung tightly.

"I see," Torneo said. "You plan to run away with the rats, don't you?" Eve nodded.

"Wise choice my dear." I cheer. :D

"Then you leave me no choice." Torneo said. He snapped his fingers and a dozen guards grabbed us.

"Flint," Torneo said to the blonde guard.

"Yes sir,"

"Do it, do it now!" he ordered. Do what?

"But-" Flint protested. Then Torneo gave him the death glare. Flint gulped a bit, and pulled out a thin, silver card. He ran over to Eve and slammed the card squarely onto her chest. She bit down so hard that the jawbreaker in her mouth broke into shards between her teeth. Blue light began to spark around Eve's body in painful electric waves. Eve cried in pain.

"Stop, what are you doing to her?!" Sven cried trying to free himself from a guard's headlock. Torneo laughed evilly.

"That card causes the Nano machines in Eve's body to go out of control." Torneo said. "In just seconds, she'll be under complete control."

"You bastard," I scream. "This is unforgivable!" I scream as loud as I possibly can. "EVE! YOU HAVE TO FIGHT THIS!" I just wanted it to stop. The screams of pain coming from her, please, please, let it stop.

"You're wasting your breath," Torneo laughed. The light went out and Eve slumped to the floor. "Eve! Kill Black Cat! You're the demon, the demon catches the prey." She rises, but it's not Eve. This is a completely different animal. Her pupils were unnaturally big, her hair a frenzy mess, she glowed an eerie light. She leapt at an unnatural height, both her arms transforming into those of razor blades.

"DON'T DO IT EVE!" Sven cried. She didn't listen. She kept slicing at Black Cat, who only missed by inches.

"Don't let him escape!" Torneo ordered. Black Cat leapt out the window with Eve in toe. Torneo looked at us. "And it's about time that you two died." The guards set us down and pointed their guns at us. With no other choice, we showed him our palms. They took Sven's briefcase and my pistol. This is it; we're going to die right here and now.

"You bastard," I growl. "Forcing an innocent child to murder, making her think she's a monster, you're unforgivable."

"Don't you get it?" he said. "She's always been a monster, from the moment she was born."

"She's not a monster!" I yell. "She's a good kid, damn it. And you killed thousands of people just so you could make money."

"Money is power sweet heart." He said. Then he grinned. "You have quiet the mouth, you'd have made a fine bio-weapon." He laughed. "But then of course, I would have had to have taken care of those vocal cords of yours." I growl at him. "But enough talk, it's about time you both died." I braced myself for the agony, but I didn't close my eyes. If I am to die, I will die with some dignity. I heard the click.

"I'm glad I got you as a partner," Sven whispered.

"Same," I say.

Then the oddest thing happened, the air duct on the floor opened, and out popped Rinslet. Rinslet of all people!

"This is odd, O.o" she said. She looked up at Sven. "What are you two doing there?"

"Well this is awkward…" I say. -_-'but truth be told I was glad for the diversion. It took exactly three seconds for Rinslet to realize what the hell was going on.

"Oh my god, I think I took a wrong turn in the vent!" she cried. Sven took this diversion to his will. The pulled his hand back; and his briefcase flew back to him. He had a clear string attached from his fingers and to the handle. A machine gun opened out of it and began firing. I kicked my gun out of the guard's hand and began firing to the window.

Sven grabbed Rinslet. "Let's go, Eve's slowly turning into a monster!" I leap out the window and easily land on the ground. I look up and gasp in horror. No, no, that can't be Eve, it just can't. Eve had long, metal, razor sharp talon-like fingers shooting out of her back like some kind of creepy human spider. Black Cat was still desperately trying to dodge the deadly talons, but by the sweat glistening off his face, I knew he wouldn't be able to dodge forever.

"You're too late!" Torneo said from the window. "She's under my complete control! And until Black Cat lies dead on the ground, she'll never stop!" A talon was hurling towards Black Cat from behind. I take off in a sprint towards him.

"Watch out!" I scream. I slam into him and we both barely dodge the talon. I pull out smoke bombs and throw them on the ground. A think black fog filled the air, and by the way Eve looked, she couldn't see. I glare at Black Cat. "Damn it to hell man!" I cry. "Just run already! You can't fight her forever."

"I told you," he said. "It's my-"

"You want to know something?" I cut him off. "Cats go on their own free will, house cat or stray, they never let anyone tell them what to do." I point a finger at him. Not the finger just a finger. "If you are Black Cat, then why do you do everything they tell you to do?" He was silent.

The smoke began to clear, and Eve locked eyes on Black Cat, yet again. We ran opposite directions as the razor blades hit the ground where we once stood.

"Sven, there's no way we can walk away from this alive." I cry. "Even if she does kill Black Cat, Torneo will just sick her on us!"

Sven looked at Eve, thought for a moment, and then put the briefcase down. "As a gentleman," he said. "It's my job to help anyone in need!" he cried a battle cry, and ran straight for Eve.

"Sven, no, don't do it!" I cry.

"Eve, if you can hear me," Sven cried as he ran up the talons to Eve. "Then you can fight it, you are stronger than Torneo." He leapt towards her. "SO SHOW ME YOU'RE STILL IN THERE!"

I hear a ripping sound and I nearly scream. Eve's talon had punctured Sven, nothing fatal, thank god, but I could see blood trickle down the iron talon. Eve turned back to the girl at the park, and began crying. She released the talon from Sven and they both touched the ground lightly.

"Do I have to kill anymore?" Eve asked.

"No," Sven said smiling, but he was in pain. "You're free, and now I can keep our promise." He fell to his knees.

"SVEN!" I cry as I kneel down to him.

"Oh god," Rinslet said. "We've got to get out of here!" I look at Eve, and take the flower thingy off her.

"Game over Torneo," I say before I crush it under my foot.

"You think this is over?" Torneo yelled. "I have plenty of inventions and data, I can always start over!" We ran away. But before the manor was out of sight, I felt heat blaze behind me, and I saw orange light, fire.

We ran across town as fast as our legs could carry us. We stopped at a bench on the overlook of the town. Rinslet went to work fixing Sven, and I carried Eve.

"Wow," I say as I watch Torneo's mansion burn to ash. "Did you do that Rinslet?" I ask.

"No," Rinslet said. "The lab was already trashed when I got there."

"Sorry," I say. I set Eve down on the bench. "Now what do we do about her?"

"Hey," Rinslet said. "When I make a promise, I keep it. No one will touch her." She frowned. "But exactly _how_ are you going to keep her hidden from pursuers? If Black Cat was after Eve doesn't that mean the rest of Chronos will go after us?"

"Well," Sven said. "I'll just have to take her back to Idaho, she can live with me." I smile at him.

Just then, a pistol pointed blank at Eve, again. Black Cat was standing over us. Oh no, there's no way I can protect Eve now, I lost all my bullets at the mansion. Shit!

"If you hurt her…" I say. Damn, my voice sounded weak and ragged.

"Blood…" Eve said. "I smell blood all over your gun." She said. Black Cat was silent. His eyes had a somewhat distant look in them, as if he was remembering something. Then he put the pistol down, turned around, and walked into the trees.

"What was that all about?" Rinslet asked.

"I don't know," Sven said. "Something happened at the mansion, something that changed his mind." I stare after the black figure.

"Hey!" I call. Black Cat stopped for a brief moment. "I'll hunt you down if you interfere with anymore of my jobs!" He nodded ever so slightly, and then vanished.


	7. Chapter 7

Girl Talk

Sven took Eve home with us in Idaho. She seemed fascinated with the whole plane ride. When I returned home, things went back to normal, sort of. I just went back into my usual routine; cook, clean, study, finish homework, over and over for the next five days.

On Thursday afternoon, I took Megan, Emma, and Eve to the mall with Rinslet to buy some new clothes. Sven wasn't really interested in shopping so he hung around in the food court.

Rinslet had busted into Torneo's safe and had robbed him so there was plenty of cash left over for me and her to get some things.

"Black Cat better knock off stealing our cases before I knock him into the next century." I say to Rinslet in my favorite store.

"I'm guessing that failing a case isn't your favorite thing in the world, right?" Rinslet asked.

"No, it isn't," I say. I pick up a black t-shirt that had the words 'come to the dark side; we have cookies' complimented by a happy monster holding a plate of cookies on it. "I wonder if they have this in a size four." I wonder out loud. They did so I added the shirt to my basket.

"Wow, this is cute," Rinslet said holding up a wine colored, shredded V-neck shirt. "This store rocks," She looked at me. "Hey, can I ask you something and expect you to be totally honest?" Girl talk, the one thing in the world I failed at.

"Go ahead," I say holding out a white t-shirt with a blue ribbon around the waist.

"Back at Torneo's mansion," Rinslet began. "Why did you do that? I thought you hated Black Cat."

"What?"

"Before Eve could kill Black Cat, you charged into him and threw that smoke screen." She cocked her eyebrows in question. "If you hadn't done that, he surly would've died. And since you hate him, what gives?"

I stop, and look at her. "I'm a Sweeper, Rinslet." I say. "It's my job to save people in danger."

"But isn't Black Cat a _villain_?" she asks. "You rant against him every day, yet, you save his life; so what gives?"

"I guess I'd feel guilty about it later." I say with a shrug. I take the basket of clothes to the changing room and try them on. They all fitted and I liked all the ones I picked out so I decided to get them all.

We bought our clothes and met Sven and the girls in the indoor food court. I saw that Eve was wearing the red jacket and white boots that we bought.

"Well look at you!" I say sitting in a chair at the table. "Do you like the outfit?"

"Yes," Eve said.

"So," Sven said. "I hear there's a firework festival tomorrow evening?" Sven asked.

"Mommy and daddy got called over to Germany," Emma said drinking a soda. "They said that they couldn't take us."

"That sucks," Sven said.

"We're still going," I say. "I'm driving us, remember."

"I know," Megan said. "But mom and dad aren't home often so we never get to see them."

"They leave a lot?" Eve asked.

"Yeah," I say. "Mom and dad are business partners so they get called all over the world a lot so I took over the house responsibility."

"Are they ever home?" Sven asked.

"Sometimes," Megan said. "They're garneted to be home on Easter, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. But other than that, they're usually home for two to four days, and then they fly off somewhere else."

"Wow," Rinslet said. "That's got to be rough."

"Sometimes," Emma said. "But Kristen says that they do it for our futures, so I don't complain."

"So, Eve," Megan says. "Are you and Sven going to the festival?"

"Yes," Eve said. "I want to see the fireworks."

"Eve's going to hang around with us," I say. Sven reached for a can of beer, and then stopped.

"Uh, Kristen," he said sheepishly. "Can you open this? My wound hasn't completely healed so it's hard doing the smallest of tasks."

"Sure," I say.

"I can open it!" Eve offered. There was a swish, and the can split in two. Eve's right index finger had morphed into a razor blade. "My powers come in handy, right?"

"Uh… yeah…" I say wiping beer off my shirt.

"Yeah…" Sven stammered.

"That was so cool!" Megan exclaimed.

"I like your powers!" Emma cheered.

"At least they're taking a likeness to her, huh Sven?" I say.

"Holy crap," he said looking at his severed can. "That was…"

"Awesome!" the girls cheered. -_-'

I let Sven drive the girls home so I could get some gas in the Subaru. I was walking out of the gas station when I ran head into a girl in a... kimono?

"Oops!" she said. "Sorry!"

"Uh, no, it's my fault, and…" I eye the kimono; it was white with pink flowers. "That's beautiful, where'd you get that?"

"I went to Japan to get this," she said proudly. "I had a job there after all!" I eye the girl up and down. She had big blue eyes and short dark brown hair.

"Um, my name's Kristen, and you are?" I say.

"Saya Minatsuki!" she said. "And you must be one of the few Sweepers in Idaho!" I gasp. How'd she know I was a Sweeper?

"How'd you know that?" I blurt. Saya laughed.

"I saw you in California with that little girl, you were carrying a gun," she said.

"Oh, I'm sorry" I say.

"Don't be," Saya said. Then she crouched to my size, she towered over me. "I'm a Sweeper too,"

I pull away. "You are?"

"Yeah!" she said. "There are only three Sweepers in this part of Idaho after all." She smiled. "Why don't you come inside with me for a bit?" she asked holding the door open. "The crows will peck at your head if you don't hurry inside!"

I look back to see a flock of crows, but I go inside and sit at a table with her anyway.

"So," I say, trying to bring up a conversation. "What brings you here?"

"I'm just here for some milk," she said. "Do you like milk?"

"Yeah, I guess, it's my favorite drink…" I say awkwardly. Saya walked over to a cooler and bought us both a bottle of the stuff.

"On me," she said handing me one.

"Thank you, you're very kind." I say taking a few gulps.

"It ok, I'm planning to buy some for my friend, he likes milk and he feeds it to his cat friend."

I look at her. "He must be really, nice, if he knows someone like you."

Saya laughed. "He's a bit quiet actually, he likes to keep to himself really," she closed her eyes as if trying to picture him. "He's my only potential friend," then she opened her eyes. "Except for you, of course," she blinked. "I _can_ call you my friend, right?"

"Y-yeah, sure, why not," I say.

Saya laughed again. "You and my friend are so much alike!"

"How are we alike?"

"Well," Saya thought for a bit. "You both like milk; and you both are unsure of me," she thought again and smiled. "And you're both stubborn!"

"Hey!"

"There's nothing wrong with being stubborn," she said. "It means you won't give up easily." She thought again. "Come to think of it, you both don't like giving up."

"Is that it?" I ask taking another drink of milk.

"No," Saya continued. "You both are unsure," I stop midway through swallow, cough a bit and look back at her. This was a very weird conversation to be having over milk.

"Unsure?" I ask.

"My friend is unsure on being free," she said. "He's… part of a different society. He's not sure about staying with the society, and you are unsure about people you trust I guess; I see that look in your eye."

"Uh… are you some sort of psychic?" I ask.

"No, just a Sweeper" Saya giggled. It was like bubbles in soda. "You both wear the same expression when I ask the question."

"I see…"

"What I'm really trying to say is; that you both are wavering on what you think of the people you think you know. Maybe you think you know a person and are starting to _really_ know a person." I blink. Saya smiled again. "I know, call me crazy, but I'm just guessing." Then she stood up. "I'd better go then," she said. "Hey, are you going to the festival?"

"Everyone is going," I say.

"Then I might see you!" she said opening the door for us. I finished the milk and recycled the bottle. "It's much more fun to watch fireworks with a friend while drinking a lemon soda!"

"Yeah, I guess I'll see you there then!" Saya said walking down the street.

"I guess so," I say to her. Then she was gone. I climb into the Subaru and drive back home. When we got home, I get the new clothes into the dresser and begin to fix an early dinner of nori. I'm just done setting the table when there was a knock at the door. I answer it to see, Saya?

"Saya," I say opening the door wider. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd stop by to say, hi, before I head home!" she said. "And I also thought that I'd formally ask you to join me at the firework festival?"

"Formally, do we need to sign something? Have a stamp of approval? Have a third party witness?" I ask. Saya laughed again.

"You're funny!" she sneezed a bit. "Can I come in? It's really cold out here."

"Y-yeah, sure," I say letting her in. She sat at the table.

"Wow," she said sniffing the air. "That smells good," I heard her stomach growl. "Oops, I guess I was out for a longer time." I served Saya a plate of nori and glass of water. "Thanks, you're really nice." She said. She ate it with enthusiasm. "You made this?"

"I did," I say sitting in a chair next to her with my own plate. "My parents aren't going to be home for a bit so a while so…" I say. I remember from everyone, don't tell anyone you're home alone.

"That's another thing you and my friend have in common," she said. "You both practically live alone."

"I… uh…"

"There's nothing wrong with living alone," Saya said. "I live alone,"

"How old are you?" I ask.

"I'm eighteen," she said. Holy cow, that's young. "My friend is too. How old are you?"

"S-sixteen," I say.

"Sweet sixteen," Saya said. "That's young, especially for a Sweeper." She drank the water down and I noticed that her kimono was slightly cut off.

"What happened to your kimono?" I ask.

"Oh, that," she said. "I was tracking down a killer yesterday, he was the kind that killed women; he killed nineteen girls. He had a strange ability to melt things with his hands and bullets just fell right out of his skin." Her face went serious. "I would've been victim number twenty if it wasn't for him."

"Who saved you?"

"My friend, he saved me before I was burned." Saya said. "Good thing too; if he was a second later, I wouldn't be here."

"Your friend must be very close to you then," I say.

Saya shook her head. "Not really, we've lived next door to each other for a while but never really talked. We started talking just a few days ago."

"I see," I say.

"You know," Saya continued. "My friend has quite a reputation for being bad, but I don't really care about that. I care about what's on the inside, not the outside." She looked at me again. "What do you think?"

"I think that your idea of people is incredible." I say. I was being a hundred percent honest. "You have quite a perspective."

"Thanks," Saya helped me load the dishes into the sink. "I'd better go then," she said walking to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah," I say. Saya walked out the door, and began singing some sort of song about forgetting the times of pain. It was clear, and beautiful. I serve the girls dinner when they came downstairs. I didn't mention Saya though, I don't need them to think that you can invite people you just met into the house.

Once everyone ate and the dishes were clean, we went to bed. I couldn't help but sing what I knew of the lyrics to Saya's song. I'd ask her the rest of the lyrics tomorrow, the song sounded really nice, like freedom.


	8. Chapter 8

An Unexpected Hero

"I want you to hold the trigger down, ok?" I tell Aaron. It was five o'clock in the evening. Just two hours away from the firework display.

"Ok," Aaron said holding the trigger down.

"I'll aim, and you keep holding that down." I say as I carefully aimed the water gun at the clown target. This was one of those games where you shot water into the hole and try to pop a balloon. The game hadn't started yet, but this was a trick I had picked up during a family vacation to Las Vegas when I was ten.

The buzzer went off, and water blasted out of our gun and straight into the hole. Our balloon began to fill up fast.

"Go for it guys!" Sven cried. The balloon began to fill up, and ours popped the first. We won first place.

"Sweet, what would you like?" Aaron cheered. I eye the cheesy, two dollar toys. As childish as this all seemed, I couldn't help but enjoy myself.

"The kimono doll," I say pointing to a doll. It had black felt hair and a red kimono. The seams were very strong and it looked a little like Saya.

"Cute!" Emma said taking the doll. "This is adorable!"

"It's not for me," I say. "It's for a friend that I hope I'll see." I scan the area for Saya, no sign of her.

"Aw rats," Megan said. She tried the ring toss game behind me and failed. "I really wanted that Black Cat," I saw a goofy black cat doll with a bell around its neck.

"Maybe next time," I encourage.

"Hey, Kristen," Aaron said. "Do you want me to get you some water?"

"Yeah, sure," I say. He ran off to get some water. Then I see Saya in the crowd. I wave her over.

"Hey, Saya," I say.

"Hello, Kristen," she said cheerfully.

"Wow," Megan said. "Is that a kimono?"

"Yes, I got it in Japan." She said spinning. It was white with pink flowers.

"I won this for you," I say handing the doll. "It looked like you."

"Thanks!" ^_^ she said.

"I wish I could win prizes like you," Megan said. "If I had your luck, I'd get that black cat."

"I can win it!" Saya cheered. She paid for the game and easily tossed the rings over the bottles in less than ten seconds.

"Wow!" Megan praised. Saya handed her the cat.

"You're good at picking prizes." Saya complimented.

"Thanks, Ms. Saya." Emma said looking at the cat. "It looks like Luna."

"Luna?"

"Luna is our pet black cat," I say.

"Cute!" Saya cheered.

"That looks _nothing_ like Luna." Megan said.

"Well, they're both black, aren't they?" Emma said matter-of-factly.

"By the way," I say. "What was that song you were singing yesterday?"

"That song was from Japan, it's called _Konoyo no Uta_." She said. "It's a song from Japan, about forgetting."

"Forgetting what?" I ask.

"Forgetting the times of pain," Saya explained. "I like the song because sometimes, it's best just to forget the bad things in the past and move on."

"Maybe I can find the lyrics," I say. "Then we can sing together."

"That'd be cool!" Saya turned to the lake. "Well, I'd better get going, I'm meeting my friend. We're going to drink lemon soda and watch the fireworks." She turned back to me. "Maybe you can join us?"

"I'll see if I can." I say.

"Ok then," she heading into the crowd. "Bye, Kristen!"

"Bye," I wave. Aaron came back with the water, already opened.

"Here," he said passing it to me.

"Thanks," I say, I didn't drink it yet. "We'd better go, the fireworks will start soon." I turn to Sven and Eve; they just won the water gun game. Sven got her a rainbow bead bracelet. "Sven, we'd better go."

"Alright then, come on Eve." Sven said leading Eve to the docks. We all stood in a group, anxiously looking up at the sky.

"I want to thank Ms. Saya for helping me win the game." Megan said wistfully.

"Maybe next time we see her." I say. "I highly doubt you'll find her in this crowd." Megan was silent for a moment. I wouldn't know if they had said anything because of the roar of the crowd. That meant they were about to begin.

The first round of fireworks jetted across the sky, exploding into thousands of colors and lights.

"Tamaya," The crowd cheered. Eve was on Sven shoulders. She seemed mesmerized.

"What do you think, Eve?" Sven asked.

"They're like flowers blooming in the sky…" Eve said.

"Tamaya," I call. Eve gave me a look. "That's what the locals say when they go off."

Eve smiled. "Tagaya,"

"You crack me up, Eve!" Sven laughed. "Tamaya,"

"I'm having a great time with this!" Aaron said.

"I am too," I say taking a small sip of water. It had an odd taste, probably because it was open for so long. "What about you girls?" I ask, turning to Megan and Emma. They weren't there. "Megan? Emma?" I call, looking around the crowd. Panic shot through me like a bullet. "Sven, I can't find the girls!" I cry.

"Tamaya," the crowd roared.

"No…" Eve said, suddenly upset.

"Eve, everyone says it, don't be embarrassed." Sven said to her, and then he turned to me. "Are you sure they're not here?"

"Yes, I looked!" I cry.

"They've got to be around here somewhere." Aaron said scanning the area. "I'll go look at the mid-way point." He ran off to the game booths.

"Megan! Emma!" I cry.

"Blood…" Eve said. "I smell blood…"

"Blood, where?" I ask, praying that the girls were ok.

"That way…" Eve said, pointing behind me.

"What?" Sven asked.

"That way…"

"O-Okay, let's go then!" Sven and I ran through the crowd of people down to the water. And that's when I saw the fire.

A tanker was on fire and leaking burning oil into the water. There was an explosion that sent a jolt of fear through me. Oh my god, was Megan and Emma over there? Were they hurt, or worse?

Eve leapt down from Sven's shoulders and ran ahead of us.

"This way!" she said.

"Eve! We can't get any closer! We all could get hurt!" Sven cried. I picked up my pace faster than the two. "Kristen, wait for us!" Sven cried.

"I can't!" I cry back. "Megan and Emma could be over there! I have to look, Eve, show us the way!"

"Here…" Eve said running through several turns, around the docks into the dock yard where most boats are parked.

"Eve! Slow down!" Sven cried after us.

"This way…"

"Eve!"

We kept running after her until we stopped at the end of an alley on the other side of the docks. I place my hand against a wall and try to catch my breath. I look up and I try to work up a gasp when I see the bodies.

Two bodies, a male and female, were lying on the ground. The female, oh god, it can't be, it's Saya, covered in blood. I walk over to her and check for a pulse. She's dead. I back away in horror. I didn't know her too well, we only talked three times in all, but I felt like we were really friends. I see the gun just inches away from her; she must've fought for her life. Shit, if only I had come with her; then I might have been able to save her. I hit the wall in anger and in grief.

"Kristen, who are they?" Sven asked. He was still catching his breath.

"I-it's Saya," I gasp. "The girl from the mid-way point, she's dead."

Sven's eyes grew. "Are you sure it's her?"

"Yes!" I cry out.

"Who's the other one?"

I turn to the other body, and my grief turns to horror and rage. The male, was Black Cat, unconscious. He must've shot her. I hear a small moan from him; he' still alive. I clench my hands into fists.

Okay, maybe the grief is causing anger fits. And perhaps my dislike for him has caused me to jump to conclusions. But I have my reasons, he ruined my jobs. Alright, I really don't care now. But Saya was my friend, and I knew it. And I'd fight him to the death to avenge her.

"It's Black Cat…" I say.

"Oh my god," Sven said. "Did he kill her?"

"I'm not sure." I say, my voice was low and even.

I see something move under his jacket, and then I hear a cough. And then I see Emma's head poke out from under the jacket.

"Kristen!" She cried. Tear tracks ran down her cheeks and she smiled. "Megan, it's Kristen, she's come to save us!" Megan poked out next.

"Kristen, we-" Megan began to say.

"Girls, get away from that guy!" I cry grabbing their outstretched hands and stand them up. "He'll kill you!" I'm furious at Black Cat now; he not only put Saya in danger that killed her, but he nearly killed my own two sisters. And now I have a reason to kill him now, while he's weak.

Megan's eyebrows cocked in question. "Kill us? No, he saved us!"

"Saved you?" I repeat, unconvinced.

"Yes!" Emma said. "He saved us, and he tried to save Ms. Saya." Emma pulled the cat doll out from under Black Cat's jacket. "He saved our lives."

"How could he have saved you?" I demand. There was an explosion behind me. "Never mind, we'll talk about this later, let's go." I turn around.

"What about the boy?" Emma asked.

I faced the girls again; they were trying to drag Black Cat by the back of his jacket. "We've got to go, now!" I say.

"Not without him," Megan said.

"Why do you want to bring him with us?" Sven asked. He was keeping a close eye on Black Cat. "He's the freaking Black Cat! Top eraser of Chronos and he tried to kill Eve!"

"I, we, want to thank him." Megan replied. "And he was Ms. Saya's best friend." I blink; Black Cat, and Saya, best friends? The whole idea confused me. There was another explosion.

"We've got to get out of here," Sven cried. "Or we'll be barbequed alive!"

"We've got to save him!" Emma pleaded. "Or I'll stay with him! I don't care if I die!" There was a moment of silence. We were at a stalemate; I couldn't get them out without Black Cat, or we'll be burned alive.

"Ugh… fine." I finally groan.

"Are you _sure_?" Sven asked.

"Sven, this is not something to argue about now!" I cry. "Just grab him and go. We'll hate him later. Besides; we might get a bounty for Chronos to get him back."

Sven sighed. "Alright, but I highly doubt that Chronos will be reasonable." He walked over to Black Cat's body, and slung his arm over his own shoulder. "Grab the girls and go!" Sven said running with Eve in toe.

"Go after Sven!" I tell the girls. They don't argue, they take the black cat doll and run after Sven. My foot hits something when I take the first step; a gun, Black Cat's gun. I pick it up. God, this thing is heavy. I don't have time to put it back so I run after the group with the gun.

To say that we made it to the other side of the docks is a very generous way of saying that we had just hit the other side of the bridge when the tanker blew up completely, launching fire into the air.

"Oh god…" I say as Sven set Black Cat against a lamp post near the street. "_That _was close…"

"You're damn right it was close!" Sven cried. "We all could've been bacon if we were a second late."

"We're sorry…" Emma said handing me the kimono doll that I gave Saya. "We really wanted to thank Saya so we didn't think." I take it.

"I'll yell at you later." I say, examining Black Cat's gun; it was a heavy thing with the Roman numeral thirteen scratched into it. "Sven, you grab the car. If you see Aaron, tell him to go home." Sven nodded and walked off. I turn to Eve and hand her the gun. "I want you to hang on to this. If he's hostile, I don't want him to have a gun." Eve took the gun.

"I smell blood all over this gun…" she said. Then she followed after Sven.

"Just don't pull that trigger." I call. I turn to my sisters; besides some small scrapes and burns, they're perfectly unharmed. "And you two; start explaining."

"Ok, before the fireworks began, we say Saya on the other side of the docks." Megan began. "We thought it was a perfect opportunity to say thank you, so we ran after her."

"When we got there, she was on the ground, covered in blood." Emma added. "And there was a blonde haired man over her with an invisible blade."

"Girls, don't lie." I say, keeping a close eye on Black Cat. He didn't move.

"No! Really, it was an invisible sword! Saya said it was! We saw the blood dripping off it!" Megan cried. "Anyway, the blonde man turned on us and was about to kill us when Saya shot his leg and told us to run."

"We ran into that guy, Mr. Kitty." Emma said pointing to Black Cat. "He asked if we had seen Saya, so we led him to Saya."

"The man said; 'Look, Train, I've freed you from that witch's spell." Megan said in her imitation of a man's voice. "'Now you can go back to being the old Train Heartnet.'"" Train Heartnet? Is that his real name?

"Go on," I say checking Black Cat's pulse. He had one, so he was still alive.

"Then, Train hit the blonde man with his gun and ran to Saya. For a while, they just stayed on the ground. Train begged Saya to stay with him, she said that she only wanted a lemon soda, and then the fireworks began." Megan continued. "Saya said; 'the fireworks… are so beautiful."

"And then she stopped moving." Emma said grimly. "She just died, right there."

"Train stood up and fought the blonde man," Megan continued. "Then the invisible sword hit that boat, and then the tanker exploded."

"The blonde man vanished, and then Train jumped on us and told us to stay down." Emma finished.

"And he seriously didn't try to kill you?" I ask.

"Nope, he wanted to save us." Megan said. "So, are you going to leave him to die?"

I look at Black Cat or Train Heartnet. He looked bad, really bad. He'll die for sure if he doesn't get medical attention immediately.

"Like I said," I say. "We can hate him later, and it hasn't been later yet; I still want to give him a piece of my mind." Sven drove the car over to us with Eve in the back. He rolled the window down.

"So, what do you plan to do with him?" Sven asked.

"We'll take him to your hideout, and then we can hate him when he wakes up." I say. I was begining to feel a bit light headed, but that might just be a result of the smoke. I wasn't too light headed though.

"Fine then," Sven said getting out of the car and opening the backseat door. "But if he tries to kill us, I'm blaming you."

"Whatever!" I say pulling Black Cat into the car. "Girls, get to my car." I say to my sisters. They nod and run to my car. I turn to Sven. "I'll meet you at your hideout."

"Ok," Sven said. "But drive close to me, I don't want him waking up and attacking me and Eve behind the wheel without an eye witness."

"Just go," I say. Sven nods, closes the backseat door with Black Cat lying across the back seat, climbs into the driver's seat, and drives down the road. I rush to my car, get the girls in, and follow Sven's car away from the blazing docks into the quiet farm lands of Meridian.


	9. Chapter 9

Wounded Cat

Sven's cabin house is more like a hideout, surrounded by trees, making it hard to spot. That's good too, so no one will be able to track us down easily. I pull into the dirt driveway, next to Sven's car and switch off the ignition.

"You two go inside," I say to the girls. They climb out of the car and run into the house. I lock up the car and follow. I call Sven's name and follow his voice down a hallway into a spare bedroom. Black Cat was sprawled on a bed, still unconscious, Sven was sitting in a wooden chair, and Eve stood beside him with Black Cat's gun in hand.

"Thanks, Sven," I say.

"Hey, it takes guts to risk your life for kids, most people would only consider saving themselves." He said with a shrug. "But you and Eve are the ones who fix him."

"Deal," I say. "I've got a first aid kit in my car. I'll get it." I run to my car and get the kit in less than a minute. Sven began making dinner while Megan and Emma played with the kimono doll and cat. I take the first aid kit to the bedroom with Black Cat in it and set it on a wooden table. Eve had placed Black Cat's gun on a shelf.

"Ok, let's get to work, ok?" I ask. Eve nodded.

"I read a book about medicine." Eve said. "I will guide you." I nod. We discovered a few small burns and scrapes on his back, right cheek, forehead and hands which we treat with ease. On his chest was a large slash which Eve easily takes care of.

"Now, we wait for him to wake up." I tell her.

"How long will that take?" Eve asks.

"Who knows?" I say with a shrug. "Could be hours, but we should just let him rest."

A week, a full blown week is how long Black Cat slept, his position unchanged. Mom and dad are planning to stay in London for four weeks on a trip so me and my sisters are able to stay at Sven's house, although I left them with my grandparents on Wednesday. I'd go to school, study, eat, sleep, and do it over again. On the following Saturday, I walked past the room with Black Cat in it and saw Eve sitting in a chair, looking right at him. I wonder why though. I got my answer; Black Cat sat up slowly. Oh my god, he's awake.

"Oh my god…" I whispered.

Black Cat turned to us and blinked at us. "You're the bioweapon… and…" he trailed off. Eve climbed out of her chair and left down the hall.

"Well," I say casually, leaning against the door frame. "You feel any better than before?" He just stared at me. "I'll take that as a yes…"

"Eve, he didn't come back to life, he just woke up." Sven's voice said. He came in the room wearing a pink apron and carried a sizzling pan of bacon and eggs. He gave a grin. "Well, welcome back from the land of the dead."

"The sweepers…" Black Cat said softly. He looked around the room. "Where am I?" he asked.

"My house," Sven said. "Actually it's more like a hideout." He frowned. "God, you gave us quite the scare."

"How did I get here?" Black Cat asked.

"Well," I say scooting the chair next to the bed; but only a bit. "Eve smelled blood so she led us down to the water. We at first had no idea why, until we saw a boat on fire."

"Yeah," Sven said. He and Eve were pushing some more chairs next to a table. "So basically we dragged your hide out from under a blazing oil tanker before it exploded."

"Explode?!" Black Cat cried. His voice didn't rise though. "Saya; the girl in the kimono, what happened to her? Did she get out?"

"Oh…" I say. So he _was _Saya's friend? "Sorry," I say handing him the kimono prize and the news article about the fire. "She was dead when we got there. And even if she wasn't, she wouldn't have made it out of there alive." Black Cat was silent for a long moment. Eve got up and handed the black cat toy to him. "But I am impressed." I say. "You saving those girls and all… most people would've saved themselves, so thanks."

Sven put a small tray of food in front of Black Cat. "Now then, let's eat."

Breakfast was really awkward, really awkward; no one spoke for the first two minutes until Sven finally spoke up.

"Oh come on, eat." He said to Black Cat who just stared at his food as if it had teeth. "You need to eat, even if you don't feel hungry, you've been asleep for a long time. Besides; I worked hard on it so don't let it get cold."

"How long have I been asleep?" Black Cat asked.

I gulped down orange juice. "Uh… a week…" I say.

"A week?" he asked.

"Eve," I say, trying to change subjects. "Give him the cat." Eve got up, walked over to Black Cat, and handed him the cat toy we won at the pier.

"Kristen's sisters wanted you to have this." Eve said handing it to him. She walked back to the table and sat down.

"Sisters"

"Yeah," I say. "You leapt over my sisters during the fire, right? That's why we brought you here; it takes guts to save others in a situation like that. Most would've saved themselves."

"They only suffered a few small burns and scrapes." Sven added. "But all in all, thanks for the attempt to save them."

The cat toy fell off the bed and rolled on the floor. Oh crap; was he insulted?

"Where's my gun?" Black Cat asked. Oh… he just wanted his gun.

"Eve, give him back his gun." Sven said.

Eve shook her head, not taking her eyes off Black Cat though. "I still smell blood all over his hands. His gun stays with me." In other words; Eve hadn't forgiven Black Cat for trying to kill her, about three or four times. Black Cat didn't say anything; he just stared at us with sullen eyes.

"Uh, so, anyone want seconds?" I ask.

"Give the man a break, Eve." Sven said later. He was chopping logs, Eve was reading, and I was watching. "He's been out for a week. If it were me; I wouldn't be too chatty either."

"I still smell blood all over his hands." Eve said, not taking her eyes off her book. "I do not trust him."

I bounced my leg up and down for about five minutes before moving on. "So," I say. "I've noticed that you've been reading a lot lately, Eve."

"There's so much I don't know about the outside world." Eve said. "I want to learn about it."

I examine her book mountain; three minute cooking, easy combat, drift racing, false freedom, advanced first aid, etc.

"What are you reading now?" Sven asked.

"This," Eve held out a book. It had a picture of a black cat and mice.

"That's one scary looking cat." I say. The cat _did _look mean, for a kid's drawing.

"Yes…" Eve said. "The cat is very bad, so the mice are trying to put a bell on the cat." The mice were trying to put a gold bell hung around a red ribbon around the cat's neck.

"Why would they do that?" Sven asked.

"Because," Eve said. "If you put a bell around the neck of a bad cat; you can always know where it is."

"We have one around our cat Luna's neck too; if he gets lost we can easily find him." I say. I see an idea light up Eve's face.

Sven checked his watch. "Well, I'd better go grocery shopping, since we're feeding four mouths." he set his axe down, grabbed his hat, and went to his car. Eve scowled when Sven told me and her to stay home.

"Aw, don't give me that look." Sven said climbing into the driver seat of his car. "We can't leave him alone completely, and Kristen's father would hunt me down like a dog if he found out I left his daughter alone with a boy, if you know what I mean."

"Gross!" I cry. Sven burst out laughing.

"But seriously; you two should stay. I'll get you something then; name it." Sven offered Eve.

"Books, more books," Eve said immediately.

"Ok then," Sven said, and then he turned to me. "And you Black Knight?"

"Eh…" I say. "Surprise me." I turn back to the house. "We'll see you in a couple hours?"

"Yeah," Sven shut the door and rolled down the window. "You call me if anything bad happens."

"I will." I say. Sven drove down the dirt path and out of sight.

I decided to take this opportunity to study up for some tests next week while Eve went to work doing I don't know what. After a few hours, I heard the door shut.

"Sven, is that you?" I asked. It was dark outside. I got up and walked to the front of the house. Sven wasn't here.

"Huh." I say checking the clock on the wall. "It's getting late, might as well try and cook dinner on my own." I say to myself. Sven really didn't have anything. I had at least five hundred dollars in my wallet, maybe we could order out?

I grab my phone and walk to Black Cat's room. He was lying on the bed watching an anime show. Eve wasn't here. Come to think of it; I hadn't seen her in a while.

"Hey," I say. Black Cat looked my way. "Have you seen Eve? She came in here last time I checked."

"Yeah," he said. "She tried to put some bell around my neck."

"Well, you _are_ Black Cat." I say matter-of-factly. "So where is she?"

"I didn't wear the stupid bell so she got upset and left." Black Cat said.

"WHAT?" I blurt. "EVE'S GONE?" Oh god; Eve was wandering the woods at night. "Oh my god… this is so bad!" I say. I decided to turn my anger on Black Cat. "What the hell did you say to her?"

"I said that I haven't forgotten that she tried to kill me and she just left." Black Cat said, clearly more interested in the anime he was watching. I stood in front of the screen. "You're blocking it." He said, annoyed. I turned it off. "Hey, I was watching that."

"You listen up, asshole." I say. I stood over him; trying to look intimidating. I'm an inch away from six feet tall so this wasn't easy, Black Cat looked at me. "Do you know why you're not dead?" I growl.

"Yeah," He said rolling his eyes. "You were the one who decided to save me and-"he gestured to his bandages.

"Do you think _I _could've done all that?" I snap. "Do you think _I'm_ the one who put all those bandages on you?"

"Yeah…" he said.

"I did the smaller ones, I take basic first aid." I say. "Eve was the one who saved your damn life! _She's_ the one who saved your sorry ass! _Eve_ nursed you back to health you freaking idiot!" I pointed an accusing finger at him. He didn't look intimidated, but I could tell that I shocked him. "If you did anything… _ANYTHING_ to hurt that little girl's feelings; I swear to god I'll re-open every wound on your body and throw you back into that alley way to bleed to death!" I yelled. There was a moment of silence. I head towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Black Cat asked.

"You asshole," I snap at him. "I'm going to find Eve!"

"She's a damn bioweapon." Black Cat protested. "She tried to kill me, your partner and you if I recall that night correctly."

"She's not just a bioweapon," I say. "She's a human being, and every human feels. Weapons don't feel. And unlike you, she feels horrible for murdering people…" I walk into the hall, and then, I just left without another word.


	10. Chapter 10

Train

"EVE!" I call. I have been looking for; I'm not sure how long. God, how far could that kid have gotten? "EVE!" I call again. "EVE, STOP POUTING AND COME BACK!" I cry. Nothing but dark woods and a very startled rabbit, and… head lights?

"Eve?" I call more softly, not too much but not banshee loud. I hear a click and duck as a bullet flew over my head.

"Oh, I'm sorry young lady." A man's voice said. I look up to see a tall man with long black hair look over me. "I didn't see you there." He offered a hand. I stood up on my own.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"I'm Jenos." He said with a smile. "And is your name by any chance, Destiny?"

"No," I say.

"Well that's too bad," He said. "Because I think it must be destiny that brought you here." Oh gross, is this guy hitting on me? But I had to admit, he was pretty handsome.

"Uh…" I say. "I'm sorry; I'm looking for someone…"

"Really, because I think I just found what I was looking for." He asks, rubbing the collar of my shirt between his fingers.

"Jenos, come on, take this seriously." Another man from behind him said.

"Oh don't be so impatient." Jenos said. "We've got plenty of time." He looked at me again. "And if Destiny isn't your name, then what is it?"

"I… uh…" I say.

"Don't listen to him…" A choked, somewhat familiar voice cried. I look up and see Eve in the trees, tied in some kind of string. And then I see the Roman numeral number on Jenos's metallic gloved hand, and the strings emanating out of it.

I shove him away from me. "Don't touch me!" I cry.

"Don't be so shy," he said. "I won't hurt you."

"You're a Chronos number!" I cry. Crap, I left my gun at the cabin, I'm defenseless, or am I? I spot a tree branch, about the same size as a boa staff. I remember using one at age eleven; this will work. I pick it up. "What do you want?" I growl.

"Ooh, feisty." He said.

"Let Eve go," I say. "Or neither one of you will be able to walk when I'm done with you!"

"This doesn't have to get ugly." Jenos said. I charge at him and he dodges easily. I hear the click.

"Stay out of this, ok?" Jenos says to the other man. "I can handle this." While he was off guard, I swing the branch and smack Jenos in the leg as hard as I could. It didn't faze him much, but at least I caught him off guard for a split second.

"Tough girl…" he said, obviously amused. I tried to swing the branch at him again and he dodged easily. "Now then, dear, I think that's enough." Jenos said. I saw the gleam of threads, and the next thing I knew I was tied to a tree by my wrists; I dropped the branch at my feet. I tried to break free, but no luck, in fact; the clear strings seemed to tighten.

"What the hell are these things made of?!" I cry.

"Those threads are made from orichalcum. Completely indestructible." he said. "Now then, if you don't mind, I'm going to take the bioweapon back to Chronos." He said. Eve thrashed about, but was held in place by the threads. I could tell they were choking her.

"Now don't be difficult." Jenos said. "It'll just make the pain worse. Just come with me." Eve cried out.

"Eve!" I cry. "Let her go you bastard!"

"And what should I do with you?" he asked me.

"Yo, boss," The other man said. "I think she's the other Sweeper; Black Knight?"

"Black Knight," Jenos repeated. "I'm star struck. What an honor to meet the youngest Sweeper of Idaho." He walked towards me, the threads cutting into my wrists and blood ran down the sides of my arms.

"Back off," I snarl.

"So tough," Jenos said. I tried to pull away from the tree, he was right, the pain just got worse. "I expected much from the sixteen year old bounty hunter, only failed once, correct?" I spit into the dirt at his feet.

"Why don't you just kill me now?" I gasp. Threads began squeeze tighter, some began wrapping around my neck, slowly cutting off my oxygen.

"I believe that no matter how sullen and hostile female is; a lady should be treated with manners." He cocked an eye at me. "Now then, I wanted to ask you something before your wrists get sliced off." He took a step closer to me. "You and your friends were at the pier last week, the day that tanker exploded and Chronos number thirteen was killed." His expression went serious. "Did you by any chance see anything suspicious? Say, a man with blonde hair?" Oh crap, Megan had claimed that a blonde man killed Saya.

"I'd rather be cut to pieces then tell you." I gasp.

"Is that so…" Jenos said. I could feel the orichalcum threads cutting deeper into my wrists and neck; the world began to grow fuzzy and black. "Then I'm afraid I'll have to be harsh with you. I hope you can forgive me."

Jenos was about to pull back his threads to kill me, when I heard a bell ring, a small one. Was that my imagination? No, there it was again, and then there's a gun fire. Now the strings are loosening and I fall towards the ground, gasping for breath.

"What the hell?" The other man cried. I turn to the source, and see Black Cat standing just at the edge of the foliage, wearing a small gold bell strung by a red ribbon around his neck.

"Black Cat," I gag.

"You're one of the numbers, aren't you?" Black Cat said to Jenos.

"Correct," Jenos said. "I'm Chronos number seven, Jenos Hazard."

"You're a hazard alright." I mutter. There was another gun fire, and Eve was set free, and the surrounding trees were sliced down. Black Cat charged at Jenos and the two got into a fight.

"Why would you be going against your own society Black Cat to help the bioweapon?" Jenos asked.

"Black Cat died last week in that explosion." Black Cat replied. "He turned into a stray, besides, I already quit Chronos." Was he joking, no, his eyes revealed the truth, cool. He turned to Eve. "And she's not just a bioweapon, she's human." Eve's eyes lit up in surprise, and I was pretty surprised too. I give the barest of smiles.

"Thanks," I say. "But I'll still wail on you later." Black Cat rolled his eyes.

"I see…" Jenos said pulling his gloved hand back. "Then you'll die a traitor!" The other man shot a bullet at Black Cat. "DIE!" Black Cat shot one bullet at the other man, but I could tell that it would be too late if he didn't move.

Then I saw something that seemed physically impossible, well, for anyone besides Black Cat. His bullet hit the other man's bullet, making it fall towards the ground, it flew into the other man's gun and it shattered.

"I'd expect nothing less from thirteen; I'm honored to kill you." Jenos said. "NOW DIE!" The orichalcum strings flew towards Black Cat like daggers, he missed by inches. The only things really damaged were the trees. The strings flew towards Black Cat again. No way would he be able to dodge those. Then Black Cat pulled out his gun, and the strings wrapped around them. Black Cat pulled back, Jenos was powerless, but why? Those strings were indestructible; anything else would've been destroyed unless…

"You forget," Black Cat said. "My gun is also made from orichalcum, the same material as your strings." Jenos was shocked, then amused. And then he pulled out another gun.

There was a click. "I'll see you in hell." I covered my eyes. There was a loud sound, followed by grunts, and a crash. When I opened my eyes I saw Jenos and his partner unconscious, and Eve holding a large, iron mallet. Her bionic powers have amazed me, yet again.

"Wow," I say grinning as the hammer transformed back into soft blonde hair. "What conditioner do you use?" I joke. Black Cat gave the barest of smiles. "What?"

"You should joke more often," he said. "You don't scowl as much, improves your looks a lot." This brings on a scowl that made Black Cat laugh silently. "But seriously."

"So then," I say. "Since Black Cat is dead, what do you want us to call you super hero? Fluffy?"

"Guess I should use my real name since Black Cat is dead," he said un-wrapping his gun from the strings. "My name is Train Heartnet." So that was his real name? Nice. "And I can't keep calling you guys the Sweepers and Bioweapon." He got his gun free and put it in its carrier on Black Cat's right leg.

"I'm Kristen Lusk, she's Eve, and my partner is Sven." I say. "Well, shall we go back, Train?"

"Yeah," he said. "I'm hungry anyway."

"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!" Sven cried. He got back exactly five minutes after I left to search for Eve. When Train told Sven what had happened, Sven threatened to shoot him with his own gun, and then he left for three hours in search for us. "YOU THREE WERE HERE EATING WHILE I WAS WANDERING THE DARK WOODS FOR THREE HOURS?!" We got hungry so we decided to indulge in Sven's groceries; sushi, ramen, rice balls, etc.

"There are leftovers in the pantry and fridge, and there's some extra ramen on the stove." I say between bites of sushi.

"We got hungry." Train said.

"We got hungry." Eve repeated.

"Not cool guys!" Sven protested.

"I almost died and Eve was almost kidnapped." I say. "Cut us some slack."

"I saved them after you left." Train said. "So just sit and eat."

"I'll figure out a punishment for you three later," Sven said getting his own food. He sat down with us. "So, Mr. Black Cat is a good guy now?"

"Yeah," I say. "He said that he quit Chronos because he wanted to be free."

"Now I'm just Train Heartnet." Train said. Apparently our new cat has a certain enthusiasm for food. He was already on his fourth serving of rice.

"Ok then, Train," Sven said. "What now? Since Chronos wants you dead and you're being hunted down, and apparently you have no money, no official records to get into school or to get a job, no place to stay or any family members to move in with, what'll you do? You can't exactly wander the streets."

"I don't know," Train says. "I'll find something…"

"This isn't a joke!" Sven cried. "If you think it's as simple as that then you'll be dead in two days!"

"Uh, Sven…" I say. "Can't he just hang with us?"

"What?" Sven blurts.

"He's handy with that gun of his," I say.

"Hades," Train said.

"Right, he's hand with Hades." I say. "And he could help us out with our sweeper jobs."

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Sven cried. "_If Chronos found us once, they can find us again_. He'll be killed in a day!"

"We'll just have to keep moving." Eve said.

"Eve, we can't do that," Sven said. "Kristen has school, and two sisters."

"And there's no way I'm letting you guys go alone!" I cry.

"Then there's only one thing to do," Eve said, her tone serious. "Kristen needs to tell her parents, that way they'll know how to help." There was a moment of silence.

"Are you serious?" I choke. "My parents would _die_ if they knew!"

"You were going to tell them anyway, right?" Eve asked.

"Yeah, when I get into college, how do you tell your parents that you're a bounty hunter and nearly get killed every time they go on a business trip?"

"As hard as it sounds…" Sven said. "I think you should tell them, that way it'll be easier."

"Sven, I can't!" I cry. "They'll freak!"

"You should just tell them," Train said. "It's better for them to freak out now, then later."

I groan, and put my face in my hands. Tell them? I can't tell them, if I did, I'd be smothered with unnecessary protection. But Train had a point; if I waited until college, they'd never forgive me. Better, I guess to do it now.

"Alright," I cry. "Fine, I'll have to tell them." I stand up and grab my car keys off the counter. "You'll find my body at my house." I say. Because this, had to be _the most_ dangerous mission I'll ever do. Crap.


	11. Chapter 11

The Truth

I used my phone to call my parents; luckily they haven't left for Europe yet. After about three rings, mom answered.

"Hello, Kristen?"

"Hey, mom…" I say, my voice sounded weary.

"Yes, we're leaving in half an hour, anything wrong?"

"No," I gulp. "I… need to tell you something… something I've kept to myself for a while…"

"What is it, honey?" mom asked. And then I told her, every detail; Sven, Eve, the jobs I do, everything… Mom didn't interrupt or ask questions… she just listened.

"And now…" I conclude. "Train's being hunted down by Chronos, and… yeah…" Silence, oh crap, I was so dead, but now, it didn't seem to matter. "But before you yell at me, I just want to tell you something," I say. "You didn't give me any other choice, you and dad are home for like a day and then you leave. You left not just me, but you're other two daughters, this was my only option for us to live." All of the anger I felt for them leaving began pouring out of me. "I can handle myself, I'm not some China Doll that you keep locked away to collect dust, I've got Sven to protect me, and if you don't see it my way, then I'm sorry that we can't see eye to eye on this matter."

"Kristen, I-" mom began.

"Just listen!" I interrupt. "I don't care if you get mad, it doesn't matter, but what does matter is that Train needs us, and I'm not about to abandon him like a kid at a truck stop."

Silence, cold silence, and then I hear mom talking to dad on the other line.

"Kristen, can we speak to the man you call Sven?" Mom asked.

"Yeah…" I say. Sven walked over and I handed him the phone. He began talking to my parents. I didn't try to listen in, I just walked into the room where I sleep, throw myself on the bed, and begin to cry silently.

Now I've done it, now things will be worse than they already will be. I've lied to them for a year, I hate lying to people. I'm not worried about the punishment, but how I had lied to them. I'm more worried about Megan and Emma; they'll be punished for sure, for keeping a secret from their parents. I don't know how long it was until Sven came in.

"They want to talk to you again." Sven said, handing me the phone again. Then he left the room.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Kristen, we talked to Sven," Mom said. "And, do you really feel that way?" She's asking if I really feel distrust and anger towards them.

"I do," I say. "I'm sorry I lied to you… but it'd risk everything, I'm risking everything by telling you now."

"I can see why," Mom said. "And… if this is what you love to do, then go for it."

"Wait… what?" I ask O. O

"You've always mentioned about being a police officer when you were a kid, and I'm glad you've achieved this goal. I'm a bit upset that you kept it a secret, but it was the right thing to do."

"And dad?" I ask.

"He says that as long as Sven keeps Train away from you, you can keep doing what you do." I smile, she understands, great. "And, if you need to keep moving around to save Train, I think we can get you signed up for online classes, and I'll call your grandparents to keep an eye on the girls." Mom said. "And Kristen; I'll be rooting for you."

"Thanks," I say. I hang up.

"Well?" Sven asked from the doorway.

I turn to him. "Well, now we've got to get moving."

We basically pack up clothes, food, you know, the usual stuff for our 'vacation' as Train puts it. I sit in the front seat while Eve and Train confiscated the back.

"By the way, Train," Sven said, turning on the ignition.

"What?"

"Where'd you get that little bell around your neck?" Sven asked. "It looks familiar."

Train shrugged. "I just got it, I like it."

Sven blinked. "Ok then, let's go."

"Where do we go to this time?" I ask.

"I'm thinking Seattle," Sven said. "So it'll be a long journey." Sven pulled the car out of the dirt driveway and down the street. We passed my neighborhood and I see the barest glimpse of my house.

I frown; I've never planned to be away from home for a long time, I guess I'll feel homesick in a bit. Train noticed my staring and cocked his head.

"What are you looking at?" He asked.

I turn to him. "Just staring out the window, that's all." Train blinked and went back to lounging. I stare out the window for a long time, long enough to see my house, my neighborhood, my town shrink until they disappear over the horizon.


	12. Chapter 12

Igor

"I'm freezing!" Train complained with a sneeze.

"It's winter." Eve replied

"Y-yeah but why does winter have to be so damn cold?" Train shot back. It had been three days since we left Idaho and hit the road, picking up a few Sweeper jobs here and there, and over those three days, Train Heartnet had opened up to us enough to reveal his real personality; optimistic, aloof, humorous in some ways, and he had a sort of 'act now think later' kind of personality.

He had sold his black trench coat back in Mountain home and had bought a completely new outfit consisting of a white shirt with a blue jacket in which he kept the sleeves rolled up a bit, black jeans and shoes, and… doughnuts?

"Well who's the genius who sold his only jacket without considering the bad weather ahead?" Sven asked.

"And what are those things attached to your chest?" I ask. "Emergency food rations?" Our 'guest' seems to have a certain enthusiasm for food. We learned that the evening we left when Train ordered everything on the dinner menu. The worst part; we're practically broke. I've come down to the math; two Sweeper jobs equal a full meal for Train. It's been incredibly hard for us, but not anymore. Now I'm going to put the cat in his place.

"He said they're meat paddings." Eve replied.

"Pretty brilliant idea, huh?" Train asked with a sly grin.

"I wouldn't say it's your best idea, but I have to admit; your clothing style is rather unique." Sven said. Sven gave a loud sneeze in Train's direction in the passenger seat.

"Bless you," I say.

"Thanks for the snot bath, and you call yourself a gentleman?!" Train cried.

Sven sniffed. "You know, you're right; it is cold in here." I gave a small nod of my head.

"Well, you could at least attempt to get the heater fixed!" Train pointed out.

"_We don't have the cash for that_." Sven said slowly, as if Train didn't understand English. But at some points; I had to agree with Sven's philosophy.

"Why not? I've been helping you out with every one of your Sweeper jobs, where's all that money going?" Train asked.

"Do you _really_ want to know? It goes straight into your 'eat like a pig and live off Sven and Kristen for free' fund!" Sven snapped.

Train huffed out an annoyed breath. "So, uh, Eve, what are you reading there?"

I looked at the book title. "Apparently it's called-"

"It's called 'The Desperate Group and Their Escape from the Pits." Eve said.

"Huh, that seems like a pretty hard book for you to be reading." Train said.

"You are _such_ a moron." I say. "Eve is reading that book to try and find a way out of our own crap situation."

"Yeah, whatever," Train said. I glared at him, and he glared right back. It was more comical than serious though and I had to bite down hard on my tongue to keep from laughing out loud. Sven sighed and got a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket and handed it to me.

"What's this?" I ask, taking it.

"It's our next Sweeper job." Sven said.

I eyed the poster; it had a picture of a man named Igor Planter with gray hair and brown eyes. According to the poster; he was six feet and one inch tall and weighed one hundred and ninety pounds and was thirty four years old. And the reward was one million four hundred thousand dollars.

"Huh," I say. "He doesn't look evil. In fact, he seems friendly. What'd he do?"

"Uh, I think it was the murder of a couple hikers?" Sven said.

I blink. "Ok, we need to grab him then." Murders with kind faces are hazardous.

"Ha, this Igor Planter guy? Easy." Train laughed as he yanked the flyer out of my hand, giving me a small paper cut on my palm and blood began flowing out.

"Ouch, you could've just asked for it." I say. "Can you at least pass up the first Aid kit from up front?" Train passed it back and I wrapped up my palm.

"I can catch this guy in my sleep." Train laughed.

"I can faster than you." I add.

"So could I…" Eve said. We both looked at her. "I will catch him, you will back me up." She didn't take her eyes off her book, not once.

"Oh really," Train said. "I doubt it."

"Sounds like you're scared you'll lose." I say with a wicked smile. I snatched the flyer back and put it in my jeans pocket. "Aren't you up for the challenge?"

"I am so up for it," Train said, jabbing an index finger at me. "It sounds like _you're _the one who's afraid."

"As if I'd be intimidated by a boy who wears doughnuts on his shirt," I grin.

"Meat paddings, gosh, get your food straight!" Train said with a frown.

"Then how about a challenge; Train vs. Kristen vs. Me?" Eve asked; still not looking up.

"A challenge," I say with a smile. "I like challenges, how about you Heartnet? You up to go against us?"

Train smiled. "I could beat you two in my sleep."

"Then it's settled."

Sven stopped the car. I looked up. "Why'd you stop?"

"We're out of gas." Sven said. "Can you guys help me push the car?"

"How far is Desburg?" Train asked.

"Not far, three miles." Sven said.

"Three miles, that'll take us forever!" Train cried.

I get out of the car. "Just help us push ya big wimp."

We pushed the car into the parking lot of Desburg Café. It was small and I could only see like three waitresses. The smell of steak and potatoes caused my mouth to water, and my muscles hurt from pushing the car.

Sven sighed. "Man, I'm exhausted."

"Well we should hurry up and catch this guy." I say.

"I agree." Eve said.

"He's just a forest ranger living a really boring life, so let's not rush it; we don't even have any leads on where he might be." Train said.

"Fine then, Kristen and I will catch him." Eve said reaching for the flyer in Train's hand.

"Not gonna happen Princess." Train said.

Eve blinked. "You think I'm a Princess?" she asked, clearly flattered.

Sven chuckled a bit. "Good one Train." Eve scowled.

"You guys ready to order?" a red haired waitress asked.

"Hi, I think that we- oh, I know you!" I cry. The red hair, the blue eyes, the face, this girl was the waitress me and Sven saw at Stan's diner in Italy, the one who we helped get rid of the thugs.

She eyed me and then smiled. "Oh yeah, you're the half adult from Italy!"

"Half adult" Train snickered.

"Put a sock in it Train." I snap. "Sorry, we picked up a few people."

She looked at each of us. "It's sort of like a traveling band of performers."

"Well, we are traveling." I say. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, it's been crazy." The girl said, glad for my interest, then she went on about how she quit Stan's to go to college and how she broke up with her boyfriend because he refused sex. While she went on, Sven ordered the food. The waitress frowned at him.

"Sven, don't be rude," I say.

"Sorry," Sven said.

Train started reading off everything on the menu. I shot him a glare.

"What?"

"We're not hibernating for the winter you know," I say. "You'll get sick if you eat all that."

"I can eat all this!" Train said.

"You shouldn't eat all that." I shot back. "Food isn't cheap, and we can't exactly pay for all that!"

The waitress looked at me, then Train, and smiled.

"What?"

"Oh nothing," she said, still smiling. "I'll go fill in that order for you two." Then she walked off. I groan as Train smiled. Two minutes later, the waitress brought in a tray. The food was wonderful, tasted like home, but my appetite was instantly loss when I saw Train wolf down dish after dish.

He eats like a pig, and he never considers that we can't pay for all this. I think. Train leaned backwards; eyes closed and gave a happy sigh followed by a happy, lazy sort of smile. I stare at him with disbelief.

Ok, he eats a lot, he complains a lot and he has as much manners as a dog. But I had to admit, he was handsome; brown hair the color of chocolate, skin that looked like he was in the sun a lot over the summer, gold eyes the color of liquid gold, the Roman numeral tattoo was perfect too, sharp, fluid, ink points. Even when he was Black Cat, he was stunning, the way his eyes reflected the moon. I jerk my head away from him, holy crap, I can't think like that; it's just not natural.

"Well this is a surprise." A voice, a familiar voice, said. I looked up to see Rinslet Walker standing by the door.

"Rinslet Walker?" Sven asked.

"Why is Black Cat here?" she asked.

"Um, waitress, can I get some milk?" Train asked. Whatever spell he had me under vanished.

"Hey, we gotta pay for that you know!" Sven shot.

"Here you go," The waitress brought over a tray of, what? Some brown stuff. "On the house,"

"Oh sweet, thanks," Train said.

"Uh," I eye the tray. "Aren't those just bread crusts?"

"Hey, you get what you pay for." The waitress said with a shrug.

"Aw man…" Train groaned.

"Train," Eve said. "We don't have a lot of cash, so don't be picky."

"Your daughter is very mature." The waitress commented to Sven.

"She's not my daughter!" Sven cried.

I shake my head and look at Rinslet. "So, what brings you to Desburg?"

"Can I borrow your partner?" Rinslet asked.

I look at Sven. "Sven, Rinslet wants to borrow you."

He nodded and walked over to a separate table with her. I tilt my head a bit; I never thought that Sven would have a girlfriend, well; he wouldn't have any trouble getting one. He was handsome, a gentleman, he could cook and he had a knack for inventing stuff. But the idea of him getting married and leaving the Sweeper business was depressing; good partners are hard to come by.

"Ugh," Train groaned with a mouth full of bread crusts. "This is so gross!"

"Then _why_ are you still eating it?!" I blurt. I groan and remember the Sweeper bounty. I sit up and look at Eve. "Hey, Eve," I whisper. Train had dozed off. She looked over at me. "Do you want to work together on the challenge? We could both beat Train."

Eve smiled a bit. "I think that will be fun."

I look over at our waitress. "Do you know Igor Planter?"

"Igor? Yeah he works at the botanical gardens just a little ways ahead." She said.

"Thank you," I say. I turn to Eve. "Shall we go, Eve?" she nodded and we got up.

The botanical gardens were nothing less than impressive. A huge glass dome was tucked behind a smaller entrence building. Eve and I walked in through the front door; no one was at the main desk.

"No one's here…" Eve said.

"The place must be closed already," I say. I walk towards the front doors. "But we can't let that stop us." Eve followed.

The inside was just as impressive as the outside. Trees that I knew and some completely foreign towered us, and thousands of flowers of all shapes, sizes and colors were scattered everywhere. It was pretty much dark if you didn't count the several small lanterns lining the cobblestone paths. Eve and I followed the path down a few stairs and came across a clearing that was surrounding a wood table. A man wearing overalls and a straw hat looked up at us.

"Sorry ladies, but the botanical gardens are closed." He said.

"What's your name?" I ask casually.

"I forgot."

"You forgot?" Eve asked.

"I've spent so much time around plants and trees that I have no need for a name."

"I see…" I say.

"Do you like flowers?" Eve asked.

The man smiled. "I love flowers, more than anything."

"More than people? Do you love flowers more than people?" Eve asked. The man was silent for a moment, and then he shook it off.

"You two are persistent. Why don't you two take a seat?" he offered. We cautiously sat on the wooden stools. "Do you two like flowers?" he asked.

"I guess," I say. "I took Botany last year, I keep considering if I should be a planter." It wasn't a lie, but then again, I'd probably have to quit my Sweeper job.

"That's good." He said. He picked up a sketch pad from under the table. "Flowers are the most beautiful things in the world. Their main priority is beauty."

"But what about the plants used for medicine?" I ask.

He looked up at me. "That is true; some plants are used in several medicines." He grinned. "What about you? Do you have a favorite kind of flower?"

I think. I never really thought about that. "I guess…" I say. "I'd have to say that I like roses."

"That's a good choice." He said. "Did you know that roses can be in several different colors? All of them have a meaning."

"Really, like how?" I ask.

"Well, for instance," he said. "Lavender roses mean love at first sight, red means love, beauty, courage and respect, light pink means admiration, sympathy, and sweetness, blue means the impossible, and orange means fascination."

"I'm impressed, you really do love flowers." I say in awe. I was impressed; who knew you could know so much about one flower.

"Oh yes," He handed us his sketch pad. "These are my absolute favorites."

I looked at the drawing, they were beautiful, so fluid and detailed. But my eyes fell on something that made the blood in my veins run cold. The name at the bottom of the page, in clear writing, said Igor Planter. Igor Planter was the name of the murderer we were hunting down. Oh crap.

"Igor Planter," Eve said. "Is that your name?"

He seemed dazed for a bit. "I guess it is."

"We have found you." Eve said.

"Are you two playing tag?"

"You are it."

"I haven't played tag in over thirty years."

Eve held up the Wanted poster for Igor. "We are what you would call… Sweepers."

"Wait, do you intend to arrest me?" Igor asked. "But I haven't done anything wrong."

"You murdered a lot of people." I say.

Igor frowned and I could see anger starting to build up. "I just dealt with some hikers who were destroying the forest. They were stomping on plants and plucking flowers from the ground."

"But you had absolutely no right to kill them." I say, standing up and beginning to back up, I grabbed Eve's hand and began to pull her back. Murderers, no matter how nice they seemed on the outside, are generally psychotic.

"Are you the type of people," Igor said slowly, anger keeping his voice low and even. "Who'd kill a defenseless plant?" he started breathing heavily. Eve backed up a bit further and stepped on a white and blue flower just off the path. Igor's head shot up. "DO NOT STEP ON THE FLOWERS!" he cried. I stood frozen, not daring to move. "You may seem like nice young ladies, but I can see the monsters you truly are." He growled. He then took a small bottle, covered in seals out from his overall pocket and took a sip from it. He groaned and then let out a battle cry, there was a ripping sound and he instantly bulked up with several pounds of hard muscle.

"It's my job to eliminate anyone who destroys nature!" He bellowed. He took a watering can from the ground and dumped the contents on the ground.

"Get ready Eve," I say pulling out my gun. Eve took up a defensive stance as roots, thick as redwood trees, shot out of the ground. Ok, wasn't expecting this. Roots wrapped around our legs and arms, the grips were cobra like. Eve's right hand morphed into a razor blade and was easily able to slice through the roots as if they were paper.

Tears streamed down Igor's bulked face, tears of anger and desperation. "Stop destroying nature!" He screamed. More roots entangled me and Eve and hosted us up into the air. I tried to wriggle free but the grips only got tighter.

"The plants are angry with you two." Igor hissed. "Can't you hear them crying?!" Eve cried out in pain. "Don't try to fight it, the pain will only get worse, but it'll all be over soon." Igor said with a psychotic chuckle.

He sprayed the ground with more water and I heard a groan from behind me. I craned my neck to see behind me, just in time to see a very large purple flower bud shoot out of the ground. Its giant petals opened and revealed tiny teeth, sharp teeth. A noxious scent wafted out of the plant, and I could tell it was one of those carnivorous plants, the ones who lured in prey by its scent. "Do you like flowers?!" he asked. Eve cried out and I gritted my teeth.

"You two are about to be devoured by this plant and reborn!" Igor laughed. "Not as a human, but as a flower, ISN'T THAT JUST WONDERFUL?!"

"You're insane!" I scream.

Igor laughed. "I think you should go first." I could feel the roots pulling me towards the flower's jaws. I still continued to fight even though the roots were strangling the life out of me, and then got an idea. I stopped moving and easily slipped out of the roots and onto the ground where I shot the roots holding Eve. She landed easily onto her feet, and Igor roared in anger.

"I hope you like lead!" I yell and fire several bullets into Igor's leg. They left marks, and green stuff oozed out of it. I nearly barfed. "Impossible," I say. "You should've…"

Igor laughed again. "My body is indestructible right now thanks to this drink!" Roots entangled my legs and Eve's and then hosted us into the air again, hosted me towards the hungry jaws of the twenty foot flower. "Now let nature devour you!" I closed my eyes, not wanted to see, when I heard another gun fire, but I didn't do that. I fell to the ground, hard. And when I opened my eyes, the same was with Eve.

"Sorry I'm late Princess," Train's voice said as he walked out from the shadows. "And you too Black Knight."

"Train." I say standing up.

"You must be punished for hurting the plants!" Igor roared. Roots shot towards Train and he easily dodged them.

"You've got to be better than that!" Train laughed. He landed six hundred feet away from me.

"I'm not aiming for you." Igor purred as he took another swallow from his bottle. This time, his skin turned a sickly green color and roots shot out of his back. I heard a groan from the ground, and I saw Train's eyes widen when he saw me.

"Kristen! Move!" he screamed and then charged head on into me, I flew backwards and skidded into a patch of daisies. I saw roots entangle Train's legs. More purple flower buds shot out of the ground and sprayed a purple gas at Train. He cried out and squeezed his eyes shut, and then went limp.

"Oh my god! Train!" I cry and charge towards him just as he was hosted into the air. Eve and I got the same treatment, minus the gas.

"Kristen hold on we're here to save you!" Sven and Rinslet came running out of the shadows. Sven's briefcase started firing bullets and Rinslet did the same.

"Train! Are you ok?!" I cry. He didn't move. I look at Igor. "What did you do to him? You bastard?!"

Igor chuckled. "That was a poisonous gas I sprayed at him, he won't be able to see. I'll bet he won't be able to shoot me now!"

I struggle in the grips of the roots. "Train! Train!" I scream. Still no response.

"Well, since you seem fond of him." Igor said with a grin that was nothing less than insane. "You get to watch him die first; he'll make excellent plant food!" The roots holding Train began pulling him towards the jaws of the plant.

"Kristen!" Sven cried. And then stop firing bullets.

"Why'd you stop?!" Rinslet cried.

"Train! Don't give up!" I scream. My vision began getting blurry and I could feel tears run down my face. "Train!" And then something in my brain told me to stop, and I saw Train's plan. He didn't need to see to get a good shot. I closed my eyes to do the same, and I heard the small tinkling of Igor's amulet around his muscular neck. The weak spot.

I opened my eyes and used all my strength to aim my gun at the amulet. I waited for the right moment, and then Train's eyes opened and I nearly gasped when I saw his eyes. His eyes had dilated, his whole eye, it was just a small oval of gold in white iris. He aimed his gun, and we both pulled the trigger at the same time.

A perfect shot. The amulet shattered into a million tiny pieces. Igor laughed.

"There's no point in that, my body is indestructible right now!" Green blood oozed out of the bullet holes, but Igor didn't care. Sven shot me and Eve down and we landed gracefully while Train landed with a hard thud. I ran to his side.

"Oh my god, Train! Are you ok?!" I cry. He blinked several times.

"I can't see a thing." He said sitting up. "Kristen?"

"Yeah, it's me." I say. "Are you hurt? Anything broken?"

"No, not really." He said. He stopped. "Move!" He said. He charged into me as more roots hit the ground where we once were. At least he was able to hear.

"Get out of the way!" Sven grabbed us both and pulled us to Rinslet. Eve was already there. More green stuff squirted out of Igor's wounds.

"No, I'm not done yet!" he growled. And then winced in pain. "W-what's going on?!" He said as the squirting began flowing out of Igor. "N-no! M-my power!" he howled. I gasped as I witnessed the horror. Train's arm went around me in an attempt to make my shock evade. I wanted to close my eyes, but I couldn't. It was like a car crash you couldn't stop watching. Igor's muscles began to deflate. "No!" His muscular hands contracted to bone. "S-someone…" he gagged as the skin around his face tightened around his skull, it made a horrible sound, like the sound that comes from a crackling fire. "Please… help me…" I finally shut my eyes and put my face against Train's chest, he felt warm. I just stayed in that position until, silence.

"Oh my god." Rinslet gasped. I looked and saw a large tree where Igor was standing. A straw hat was hanging from a branch.

"H-he turned into a tree?" I ask.

"Is this what you meant by 'self-destruct'?" Sven asked Rinslet.

"Yeah…" she said. "I feel sorry for the guy."

"I'm sorry Sven," I say. "I should've just waited for you, I…"

"I can't stay mad at you," He said. "But don't do that again, you might not be so lucky." Rinslet passed me a squeeze bottle of eye drops.

"Open your eyes Train." I order. He opened his eyes wide as I let a drop land in his left eye. His eye grew back to its normal size, but the pupil was still dilated. The same with the other eye. He blinked several times.

"Can you see again?"

"It's blurry, but I can handle the rest, thanks." He said, taking the bottle and squeezing drops into his eyes. "So, I guess I won the challenge?"

"No, it was a draw." Eve said.

Train looked at her with an annoyed-shocked glower. "Excuse me?! I'm the one who shot him!"

"You didn't shoot him, he self-destructed." Eve said.

"Yeah genius," I say.

"You should have a little bit more consideration for the guy who saved your butt from becoming plant food!"

"Yeah, speaking of which." I say. "How in the hell was he able to do this?"

"I know," Rinslet said, holding up the shattered remains of the bottle Igor was drinking out of. "This used to contain Spirit water."

"Spirit Water?"

"It's the reason I came to Desburg." Rinslet said. "I've been hired by Jenos Hazard to hunt down these two guys who-"

"Wait," I interrupt. "Did you say Jenos Hazard? Jenos Hazard the Chronos number seven?"

"Yeah."

"What the hell are you doing with him?!" Train blurted. "If you're all buddy-buddy with a Chronos number I'm road kill! He could rat me into the rest!"

"Not to mention that just three nights ago he tried to kill us!" I point out.

"Relax!" Rinslet said. "Wait, he tried to kill you?" Train blinked and Rinslet sighed. "Look, I didn't know you guys were heading here, and I didn't tell anyone that I knew you. I'm not stupid."

"Oh, sorry." I say. "Anyway, continue."

"Ok," Rinslet said. "Jenos asked me to hunt down these two people who have been giving escaped inmates this strange red liquid called Spirit water."

"What does it do?" I ask. "Wait; don't answer that, that's a stupid question. Let me guess, it makes people strong enough to make steroids look like Mentos?"

"Bingo," Rinslet said. "But as you just witnessed, the potion can back fire and it can make the body litterally self-destruct."

"Aw sick." Train said.

"Yeah," Rinslet said.

"What have you found out?" I ask.

"Nothing much," she said. "Only that the two suspects are a man with a big hat and a school girl."

"Weird."

"And." Rinslet continued. "They might be Apostils of the Stars."

"The what?"

"Rumors are saying that there's a group of Taoists working underground in hopes to take over the world."

"Tao?"

Rinslet cocked her head at me. "You've never heard of Tao; well then again, Chronos can't reveal themselves. Taoists were a society of people with weird abilities; Chronos and them had a huge war and supposedly wiped them all out twenty years ago."

"Maybe some survived." I suggest.

"Maybe," Rinslet agreed. "My task is to get ahold of some of the Spirit Water, but so far, nothing." I could hear sirens coming from outside. Cops, late as usual.

"We can continue this over dinner." Sven said.

"This is all we get?!" Train complained. He wasn't a fan of the one dish serving.

"Well what do you expect?" I ask cutting some steak. "You don't exactly get a lot of cash for a man who exploded."

"This is all we can afford so don't be picky." Eve said, munching on a loaf of bread.

"If you guys are low on cash," Rinslet said. "Then why don't you help me on my case?"

"I'm not sure." I say. "I'm not fond of Jenos."

"It'll be easy." Rinslet said. "There's only one escapee left that we can get and it's only a couple miles ahead. The suspects are traveling up the river."

"Who's the guy?" Sven asked.

Rinslet handed him a flyer. "This guy, his name is Gyanza." Sven's face went grim. "Do you know him?"

"Yeah," Sven said. "I arrested him seven years ago when I was an International Agent."

"Sven…" I say. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Train." Sven said. "I want you to be by Kristen's side at all times."

"What?!" We both blurt.

"I mean it; Gyanza is not like all the other criminals." Sven said. "He goes after women in an attempt to rape and kill them. If we're taking this case, I want you to be with someone who can fight in case I'm not around."

"I can fight!"

"No buts, ok?" Sven said. "I promised your parents to keep you safe, and I don't want to have to explain to them how I got their daughter killed."

"Sven!"

"No buts!"

I glared at him for a while and then huffed out an annoyed breath.

"It'll be ok," Train said. "I'll be a good bodyguard."

"Don't push it." I snap.

Sven looked at Rinslet. "We'll help, but you have to give us something back."

"You can have Gyanza's bounty." Rinslet offered. "It's a bounty of two million dollars."

"Whoa." I say. "That'd make the year's catch!"

Sven sighed. "Ok, we'll help. Where is he?"

"Great! You're a life saver Sven!" Rinslet cried handing us the flyer. On the Wanted flyer was a picture of a wicked looking, muscular man with a brown afro and goatee. He was big according to his poster, but I've tackled men who were taller than Sven before. "He's been causing havoc in the next town up north. I'll track down the Spirit water; you take care of Gyanza and keep his bounty! Everyone wins!"

Right…. -_-' Except the people who have to track down steroid man


	13. Chapter 13

Thug City

Even though Sven said we'd take the job of hunting down Gyanza, I could tell he was a bit reluctant to do so. We were going a bit above the speed limit, but the strange thing was that there were no cops.

"She's got some nerve leaving Gyanza to us. I don't even understand why we're helping her out in the first place." Train complained. "What a pain."

"Stop complaining," I say. "The reward for this guy is two million dollars in cash, and we'll need that cash to pay off your meals."

"You two better stop fighting," Eve said. "You're going to be together for a while."

Train glanced down at his left wrist, which had been handcuffed to my right one. "Still, did Sven really have to handcuff us?"

"Yeah Sven," I join. "This thing is chaffing my wrist."

"I can't trust you two to stay together." Sven said. "I'll unlock it when we catch Gyanza."

Train sighed. "So, this Gyanza guy, where can we find him?" we hit a large pothole and I could actually feel the car fly in the air. It landed with a loud thud.

"If I have anything to say about it," Sven said. "Gyanza will be a dead man before he gets his hands on that Spirit Water."

We pulled into Rubeck City shortly, and it was a ghost town. No one on the streets, and from what I could see, neither was the stores, not even a stray cat.

The second the car came to a stop we all climbed out, me and Train having some difficulty with this, and observed the town. The wind howled through the buildings, giving the place that eerie feeling.

The second my guard was off, Train jerked the handcuff and dragged me behind him. "Ouch, where are we going?" I blurt.

"We're going to see if there are any restaurants open." Train said.

"Is food all you ever think about?" I blurt. He ignored me and we half walked half dragged each other around the town. After an hour I got tired. "Train, none of the stores or restaurants is open so just give up."

"No way," he said. "I'm not giving up."

I rolled my eyes and they fell onto a girl, probably a local. She had medium length black hair, violet eyes, and a school girl's uniform. Although it looked like a uniform, the skirt was waaaay too short, seriously; it went down to only an inch over her thighs. No wonder Gyanza targeted this place, if schools allowed their students to dress like that.

She had a glowing Popsicle in her hand too. "Well then, Mr. Determination." I say. "Why don't you just as that girl where she got the Popsicle?"

"I know where I'm going!" Train protested.

"What _is_ it with men asking for help?" I asked.

"If the Romans didn't do it, I don't have to either."

"Get away freaks." A voice said. I turned back to the girl with the skirt; she was being horned in by a group of thugs.

"Come on," I say dragging Train. "Time to be the super hero."

One thug was about to grab the girl when Train pulled out Hades and we beat the crap out of the thugs so fast that Train was able to catch the Popsicle that the girl had dropped.

Train put Hades away. "Man, I guess those rumors about criminals taking over the city are true." Train said. He shoved the tip end of the Popsicle into the girl's mouth, still hanging onto the stick. "What's going on? All the shops are closed."

"The shops are all closed but I can keep you company!" The girl mumbled through her Popsicle. I just stared at her for a few seconds. You could practically see the cartoon hearts exploding around her.

Train glanced around the area. "Now, where can I find a vending machine that sells milk?"

"Vending machines don't have milk, but I do!" the girl mumbled again. Uh… Ok… gross….

Train had yet to notice. "There's got to be some place where I can buy some milk…"

"I'll steal it if I have to!" the girl mumbled. "But first I'll need some sugar." She took out her Popsicle, closed her eyes and puckered up her lips, the universal sign for kiss me. I could feel my face grow hot, but I didn't know why; Train's not my boyfriend, but would he be if I let him? Holy crap, why am I thinking this?!

Train stared at the girl as she leaned in for her kiss. I looked away, not wanting Train to notice my flushed face. And then I heard a meow, and found that the girl had indeed gotten her kiss, just by the wrong guy, or the wrong species. Train had put a white cat up to the girl and… yeah… The girl opened her eyes and stared for a split second before her Popsicle fell off its stick and landed on the head of the fleeing cat.

She sputtered a bit. "Gross! Why'd you do that?!"

"I was gonna say the same thing." Train said. "Come on Kristen, let's get moving."

I nod and for once, neither of us had to pull on our handcuffs.

"Hold on!" The girl cried. "I don't even know your name!"

"Black Cat." Train said.

"And I'm not telling you mine." I say.

"Black Cat," the girl echoed. She smiled and spun around in a circle. "Then I can call you Mr. Black!"

"Please don't." I mutter.

The girl checked her watch. "Oh, I'm going to be late… if only I could stay here longer…" She looked back in our direction and waved. "Oh Mr. Black I'm Kyoko it was nice meeting you! We should meet up for a glass of milk or something!" She ran to the right. "Hey, my Popsicle, where'd it go?" And then she left.

"Now _that_ is one annoying girl." Train said.

"Are you kidding? She's nuttier than a Payday!" I cry.

Four hours of walking around outside and I was right, nothing open. Train began complaining and I dragged him back to the motel we were staying at. I threw open the door and walked inside.

"I'm so hungry." Train groaned. And then fell on the floor, taking me with him. "Every single restaurant in town is closed."

"So Train," Sven said. "Did you have any luck with your search?"

"No man I told you, everything is closed!"

"Oh…"

"See?" Eve said. She was wearing a red coat and her blonde hair was up in two long pigtails.

"Train, you're hopeless."

"Sven, I swear I'll chew through my own hand if this doesn't come off!" I say.

"I take it that your day wasn't peachy?"

"No," Train said. "A girl tried to kiss me."

"A girl tried to kiss you?" Sven asked amazed.

"Yeah," Train said.

"So, Sven, how'd you do?"

"I tried to contact the police, but nothing." Sven said. "If we're going to catch Gyanza, we're going to need a new angle." He walked over to a table and got out a long pink dress, the kind that looked like it belonged in the Victorian age. He brought it over to Train. "Here,"

"What's that supposed to be?"

"It's a lure."

"A lure?"

Sven smiled evilly. "No, just a lure."

"It's a tactic that we Sweepers use occasionally to capture a target." I explain. "We use ourselves as bait to lure the suspect in and take him down." I've used that once, when I was luring out a kidnapper.

"Oh…" Train and Eve said in unison.

I had to bite down on my tongue to keep from bursting out with laughter as Sven stood on the street below, wearing a pink dress, hat, parasol, and blonde wig with lipstick. I stifled a giggle.

What happened was that Train figured out what Sven was planning and the two of them broke out into an argument.

"No way man!"

"But Gyanza only likes to attack women and there's no way I'm letting Kristen do it!"

Train held out a penny. "Fine, we'll settle this by flipping a coin.

"Fine! Heads I win tails you win."

"Deal!" they both said. The coin was flipped.

"I volunteer." Eve said. The boys looked at her. "I volunteer to be the bait." The coin landed and Sven has to be the lure.

I could see the anger wafting off of Sven as he walked down the street. Train chuckled a bit.

"Poor Sven." I say. "If he wasn't a gentleman…" I saw something move down below in the shadows. Train saw it too.

"Looking good Sven!" Train called.

"Yeah Sven, looking good." Eve echoed. I snorted. I saw a shadow coming out of the darkness of the buildings.

"It's him!" Train said, leaping off the building, and taking me with him.

"Train, wait!" I cry. "I can't land like you! Ah!" I landed on top of Train. And then I realized that the shadow was a man dressed as a woman, either he was gay or he had the impression that Sven was a real woman.

"Oh it's been so long since I've seen our kind!" he said, engulfing Sven in a hug.

"You've got the wrong idea man!" Sven cried. He wrestled free and ran away.

"Don't deny your true feelings!"

"These _are _my true feelings!"

"Well, people say this is a weird town." I say. ._.'

We found Sven again, panting in an ally way, seven minutes later.

"Man… Sven's costume isn't working." I say.

"He may not show up at all." Eve said. And then there was an explosion in the distance.

"Come on!" Train said.

"Train no!" I cry as Train leapt off the building again. He caught me instead.

Sven looked at us wide eyed. "What was that?!" Train dragged me along with him. "Hey, Train, wait, where are you going?!"

"You and the Princess hurry and catch up! We'll meet you up there!" Train called back. "Come on Kristen, time to kick some ass."

"Right," I say as I ran alongside with him down the street to, whoa. We found Gyanza, but he was waaaay taller than seven feet, at least nineteen, with green skin. He looked like the Hulk with an afro. Also the girl from the back of the theater was there, and Gyanza was behind her, her face between his fingers.

"You're really cute." Gyanza said in a deep voice. "I'd give anything to see your face as you grimace in pain. And the sound of your scream must be so nice." It might have been my imagination, but I swear that fire sparked out of the girl's mouth. But I didn't dare think about it much. Me and Train pulled our guns out at the same time and aimed.

"Freeze Gyanza," Train called.

"You're under arrest!" I call.

Kyoko grinned. "Ah! You've come to save me again! You really _are_ the man of my dreams!"

"Oh look, a couple of Sweepers." Gyanza said.

Kyoko grabbed Gyanza's arm and pulled it across her. "Mr. Black get this creep off me!" she cried. "I'm nearing death and the only thing that can save me is a kiss from you!" And she puckered her lips.

"You're not that dead." I say.

"Let the girl go, Gyanza!" Train said.

Gyanza smiled, it wasn't a nice smile. "Well, this should be fun." And then there was a cloud of dust and an explosion. When the dust settled Gyanza was gone and Kyoko was spinning around in a circle.

"Oh Mr. Black!" she said in a sing-song voice. "I'm still waiting!"

"Be careful Kristen." Train said. I could hear Gyanza's laughter, but I couldn't pin point it.

"Train! Kristen!" Eve's voice called. I turned and saw her rushing towards us, and then I saw Gyanza's head poke out of a storm drain.

"PRINCESS!" Train cried. Eve stopped and leapt out of the way just in time before Gyanza burst out of the storm drain. "Get ready," Train told me. We both leapt into the air and hit Gyanza in unison, he limped on his right knee. Eve's hair morphed into a fist and sucker punched Gyanza. He fell to the ground and didn't get up.

"Sweet!" I say.

Kyoko rushed over to us. "Mr. Black you saved me!" She puckered her lips again and…

Meow

The same cat, where the hell did it come from.

"Aw Mr. Black," Kyoko said gagging. "Why do you have to be so shy?"

"It's not because I'm shy." Train said.

"Well, I guess we can postpone our kiss for another time," Kyoko said. "But to reward you," she pulled out four Popsicles. "I'll give you guys one of my fabulous Popsicles!"

"Cool," Train said.

"I don't have any milk flavored, so you'll have to make do with coconut." She passed him a glowing white Popsicle. "The first blonde gets kiwi." I got a glowing green one. "The little blonde gets strawberry." Eve got a pink one. "That leaves tomato for me!"

I saw Sven. "Oh, hey Sven." He looked dumbfounded.

"Sorry," Kyoko said. "I don't have a Popsicle for you…"

"Ok then, we turn this guy in, get the reward and get the hell out of here, ok Sven?" Train said.

"Don't forget to take me with you!" Kyoko said.

"Note to self; forget." I say.

"Sven?!" Gyanza's voice said. There was another round of rumbling and then a crashing sound. "Sven Vollfied! I've been waiting for seven years for our rematch!" his voice laughed.

"It'll all end the same as it did seven years ago; with you behind bars!" Sven said.

Gyanza laughed. "No one crosses Gyanza and walks away alive." I saw his shadow behind Sven.

"SVEN WATCH OUT!" I cry. Too late, Gyanza burst out of store front window and punched Sven into a wall.

Train and I fired several bullets at Gyanza, and they bounced off his arms. "N-no way." Train said.

Gyanza laughed again. "My body is impenetrable, so try that again!" Gyanza punched Train, sending us both flying into the air.

Eve tried to use her hair fists to hit him, but Gyanza pounded her into the air. We all were being bashed, and I felt like a piece of popcorn in a popper. Gyanza ripped the handcuffs apart, freeing us, but I hardly felt like celebrating.

Kyoko laughed. "This is fun!" she laughed. "It's like that video game where you bash the moles!"

"Good observation kid," I gasp as I was hit in the back. "Except _we're_ the ones getting bashed!"

"That's it, Train, Kristen listen up." Sven said.

"I got it Sven, we aim for his right knee and take it out." Train said.

Sven frowned. "How'd you know?"

"It's easy; remember I'm number thirteen, Black Cat." Train said. "Just look at him, it's obvious he's nursing an old wound in his right knee."

"Yeah, I know all about it, I'm the one who shattered his knee cap and ripped out his tendon seven years ago." Sven said.

"Gross," I say. "But let's do it."

"Can you two get a clean shot?"

I click my gun. "Trust us Sven."

"With this gun," Train boasted. "I could do it with my eyes closed."

"I'd _love_ to see that." I say. Train handed me a red bullet. "What's this?"

"It's a bursting bullet." Train said. "It explodes, so we'll both fire one." I nod.

"Now is a good time for you to surrender!" Gyanza's voice said.

Sven removed his eye patch and revealed his vision eye. After a few seconds he smiled. "Kristen, Train, fire at four o'clock!"

Me and Train aimed and fired at the same time, the bullets hit a rain gutter, bounced off a few things and then hit Gyanza in the right knee cap. He screamed in pain and rolled over.

"What are you, psychic?" Train asked.

"No," Sven gasped. "My right eye can see a few seconds into the future." He groaned and fell over. Eve ran to his side.

"Sven!" Eve cried.

Sven supplied a shaky smile. "It's ok, Eve." He said. "It's just that whenever I use my right eye, I feel wiped out later."

I kneel down besides him. "You're bruises are really bad, we should just hurry up and get the reward."

"You know," Train said, I looked up and saw him smiling at me. "You and I make a pretty good team."

"Really?" I ask.

He silently laughed. "Yeah, we both have good aim, so we make a good duo." I smile. And then Kyoko ruined the moment.

"Wow Mr. Black you're amazing!" she cried, clinging to his arm.

"Now Kyoko," A man's voice said. "Be patient." A man with long blonde hair stepped out of the shadows, he was tall, but then again, he had a big hat. He had black sunglasses and black attire.

"Chardon, there you are!" Kyoko said. "Meet my new man!" she blushed. "Wow, I can't believe I'm already calling him mine!"

"I'm not your boyfriend." Train said.

The man walked over to Gyanza, who shrunk back down to his original height. Gyanza rolled over and grabbed the man.

"Y-you've got to give me more of that potion!" Gyanza begged. "My power is drained!"

The man's voice was winter cold when he spoke. "I didn't come to save you, I came to witness the end of the person backed out of our agreement."

Gyanza screamed in pain again and his skin contracted over his bones, and I knew he was dead. His eyes were wide and glassy and his mouth open. The man looked back at us, took off his hat and smiled.

"Allow me to introduce myself," he said. "I am Chardon, a member of the Apostles of the Stars."

Kyoko went to his side. "Me too!"

"Apostles of the Stars, what's that?" Train asked.

Chardon's smile widened. "We are revolutionist, led by the great Creed Diskins."

Train's eyes grew in shock. "Creed? He's alive?"

I looked at Train. "Who's Creed?" And then I could see something in his eyes, something horrible, something scary. Train looked at me; his eyes filled with anger, frustration, no, regret. And then he snapped his attention back to Chardon, angry.

"Where's Creed?" he asked. I could hear a helicopter overhead.

"If you want to see Creed," Chardon said. "Come to Sanjula City three days from now."

"I'll be there too!" Kyoko said.

"What's going on?!"

"A wonderful celebration will begin, with fireworks of course." A helicoper hovered above us and dropped a rope ladder towards the ground. Chardon and Kyoko grabbed onto the ladder. "Until we meet again, Black Cat," Chardon said.

"Bye-bye!" Kyoko said as they were lifted into the air.

"STOP!" Train screamed, aiming Hades straight for Chardon, and a long cannon drew itself from the helicopter and aimed at us.

"TRAIN GET DOWN! Sven cried. I leapt on top of Train as bullets pounded the pavement. I look up just in time to see the helicopter vanished. I get off of Train and help him stand.

"Sanjula City, three days, got it." Train muttered.

"Train, are you ok?" Sven asked.

Eve looked at Sven. "Oh, Sven, look, your dress."

"AW MAN, NOW I'LL NEVER GET THE DEPOSITE BACK FOR THIS!" Sven cried.

I look at Train. "Train, are you sure you're ok?"

He looked at me. "Kristen, you don't understand."

"Train, is Creed…." I start. "…the one who… you know…" I remember Megan saying that she saw a man with blonde hair on the night Saya died. Could that have been Creed?

"Creed was a member of Chronos," Train said flatly. "He looked up to me, he appeared the night we first encountered, just after you and Sven left. That security guard with the vision scope, Creed killed him for scratching my face."

"I'm guessing he's a worshiper?" I ask.

Train nodded. "He wanted me to join his group a while back, but I turned it down because I wanted to be free." Train put a hand under my chin and we met each other's glances. "Kristen, don't get involved with this."

"Train, if you think I'm going to let you face this mad man alone then-"

"Kristen," Train's eyes were pleading with me, but his voice was harsh. "Please, don't, Creed will kill you, just stay out of this." His expression was begging me to stay out of his business, but I couldn't let him go alone, he could get seriously hurt, or worse. He pulled his hand away and turned his back on me. "Let's go," Train said softly and began walking down the street.

"Train…." I say softly.


	14. Chapter 14

Creed

No one spoke during the long trip to Sanjula city. Sven covered it up by saying that we'd find a job here since the town was so big, but he was just as worried as I was. Train vanished the day we left for Sanjula city, just gone.

Sanjula city was big, just as Sven said; with cheery buildings and pedestrians smiling and chatting. The atmosphere felt warm, even for late winter, and even here it was sunny. But despite the cheery atmosphere, the day felt cold and gloomy. A day to stay in bed I guess.

Sven parked Eve and I in Rick's café and diner for the day to wait for Rinslet. And since no one really felt like eating, we watched the news report on the World Summit.

_"We're live at Sanjula City, the site of this year's World Summit; where World Leaders gather to discuss a proposal for a Union of Continents."_ The young woman on TV said. _"The eyes of the world are focused on the summit because this plan, agreed upon, will span the globe in an anterolateral cease fire, bringing peace to all roaring nations. Due to recent reports on possible terrorist attacks aimed at the summit, security breach has been enforced to a higher level…"_

"Looks like they've enacted martial law," Sven said. Rinslet came in through the front door.

"It's all just posturing for the visiting nations of the summit." She said. "The truth of it is, without major support from Chronos; they can't even take care of themselves."

Sven's mind was elsewhere. "That guy wearing a hat, Chardon," he said. "I wonder what he intends to show us here…"

"Didn't he say something about the start of a celebration?" Rinslet asked.

Eve looked up. "Will there be fireworks to see?"

I look at Eve. "No, Eve, I don't think he meant that kind of celebration."

Eve frowned. "How boring,"

Rinslet looked back at the TV. "I wonder if he was talking about something to do with the summit."

"Who knows," Sven said. "I'm more worried about Train."

"Me too," I say. Rinslet looked at us. "The instant he heard the name Creed, he disappeared." I continue. "And now we have no idea on where he's gone."

Rinslet looked down. "Creed is probably connected to Train's past in some way."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Sven said. "If Train and Creed come face to face, something awful is bound to happen…"

Rinslet broke into a sly grin. "You came all the way out here because you were worried about your little buddy."

"That's not it at all!" Sven said. "I have to find a way to pay for the dress I destroyed since another bounty went down the drain." He tucked in his chin. "I figured we could make some quick cash here, that's all."

"You're not fooling anyone so don't even try that tough guy act on me." Rinslet said. "And by the way, I did a little research on that eye of yours."

Sven grinned to himself, oblivious to the question. "That's right, I just need to get a little cash together…" the question finally registered, he whipped around to face Rinslet. "WHAT? YOU'RE SNOOPING AROUND ABOUT MY EYE?!"

"That's kind of stalker-ish," I say.

"Sorry, I was curious, ok? And you're so tight lipped about it!" Rinslet said. I suppressed a smile as the two faced off, they were hilarious.

I look back out the window and rest my elbows on the counter top and gaze out the window, just in time to see a very short person wearing purple robes walk along the sidewalks. I raise my head and squint against the glass.

The person, I couldn't tell if it was a male or female since they wore a turban, looked back and our gazes sort of locked. I could only see one eye from the turban, but it was a cold, hard stare. I blinked. The person turned around and walked away. I shrug and rest my head on the counter, it felt warm from being in the sun all day, and I just closed my eyes and just slept for a while.

The sound of an explosion jolted me awake; I jerk my head up and look around. Sven was staring at the TV, wide eyed.

"What was that?" I blurt.

"I don't know," Sven said. There were several more in the distance.

_"I'm not sure what's happening but I'm hearing explosions in the distance."_ The woman on TV said; I could see the SWAT team running to the left in the background. _"Unconfirmed reports are claiming that a security helicopter was shot down moments ago and an attack is eminent. We are urging all citizens to find shelter immediately."_

"It's them I'm sure," I say standing up.

"Hold on a second, where are you going?" Rinslet asked.

"I'm going to go find Train and bring him back." I say.

"But you don't even know where to look for him!" Rinslet said.

"Then I've got a lot of work to do." I head towards the door.

"Come on, Kristen, wait." Rinslet said.

_"Inside the hall behind me, the World Summit filled with leaders from around the globe is beginning, apparently the violence is not enough for them!"_ the reporter said. I ran out of the café, before Sven could protest.

I kept running, until I ran out of breath, I was, say, a couple yards from the World Summit hall, when I saw a military car driving by. And then I saw Kyoko, the girl from before, jump onto the windshield. She blew a kiss into the car, and fire came out of her mouth. So I guessed correctly when I thought I saw fire come out of her mouth a while back. The car came to a full stop and the military men fled the car in a hurry. Just in time too, because the car melted into a pile of flaming goo.

"Jesus!" one cried.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Now, now, Kyoko," a male's voice said from behind me. I turned around to see Chardon, the guy with the hat and sunglasses. He was holding out his hand, palm up. "You must let go of your emotions when you fight," A red fog leaked out of his palm. "And finish what you started…" The red fog formed a skull and came towards me and the other military guys.

I was about ready to shoot Chardon when a different gunfire beat me to it. The red fog splashed to the ground, oh god, was that blood? GROSS! The military officers ran away, good plan. "They're monsters!"

I look to the source of the gunfire and see a very familiar figure standing atop a building. It was Train.

"I came just like I promised I would." Train called.

"Mr. Black!" Kyoko squealed.

"Tell me where Creed is!"

Chardon just stared at him, mouth gapping. Then he smiled.

Train's eyes fell on me and he looked angry and annoyed with me. "Kristen? What the hell are you doing here?!"

"I came for you!" I say. "I'm here to take you back!"

"I told you to stay away from my business!" He leapt down from the building and I ran across the street to get closer to him.

"If you're facing Creed, then tell me," I say. "Why do you want to kill him? I deserve an answer, or is an answer too much for you?"

"I'll never be free unless I do this," Train said. "I don't expect you to understand, just go back to Sven."

"I can take care of myself," I say.

Train's eyes were angry. "Just don't, Kristen!" he yelled. "I won't be able to live with myself if I have to watch another person I care about die!" His words hung in the air for a while. Did he mean that? Did he really care about me?

"Train…" I say softer.

"I watched Saya die, and I couldn't do anything about it," he said, he didn't meet my gaze. "I saw her tears when the fireworks began, and I held her as the life drain out of her." He looked into my eyes, they were filled with despair. "I don't want to watch the same happen to you, I won't be able to live if I have to watch you die." I could feel my face grow hot with those words. Train genteelly shoved me aside, his eyes hardened now, no more despair; he was ready to see blood.

Kyoko took this opportunity to charge towards Train. "Mr. Black you came! You came!" she cried. She skidded to a full stop when Train aimed his gun at her. He clearly wasn't in the mood.

"I want Creed," Train seethed.

"But what about me?" Kyoko whined.

"Try to have some patients," Chardon said to Train. "You'll see him shortly."

"I don't have any more patients," Train growled.

Chardon outstretched his arms. "Calm down, Train, and take a good look around you." A security helicopter flew above us, and I saw it get crushed as if it were a piece of paper being wadded into a ball. Train grabbed my wrist and forced me away from him. The helicopter fell behind Train, the SWAT team surrounding us fleeing as the helicopter exploded in mid-air. The fiery light illuminating Train behind him.

"Tell me," Chardon said, the fire reflecting off of his sunglasses. "Is it to your liking, Train? These are the fireworks I was referring too." Train looked mad, a mental scene of Train, holding Saya as the fireworks from the festival jetted across the sky. Saya, covered in blood, life draining out of her as she cried, Train wanting her to stay alive, and then Saya dying in his arms, just like that. "Soon we will free the world from these corrupted dictators; we will purify this tainted world, and restore it to the glory it once was." Chardon said.

Train gritted his teeth. And in the blink of an eye, Train pulled out Hades and shot a bullet through Chardon's hat.

"Bring him to me before I get angry!" Train raved.

Chardon frowned, looked down and fiddled with his hat. "Such impatience," he said, as if Train's bullet was more like a nascence then a downright attack. Chardon looked up with a smile. "Fine then, as you wish." He and Kyoko exchanged a look and then separated.

The earth shook as a knife of blue light came slicing through the air, Train leapt out of the way and onto me. "GET DOWN!" I obeyed. And let him pull me down, his body shielding mine. There was a slicing sound, and then it stopped.

Train looked down at me. "Stay here,"

"Train-" I begin.

"It'll be ok," he said. He stood up and looked onward. A path was carved into the earth by the blue light, and became a pillar at the town's center. It vanished. I slowly stood up, slightly dizzy from the light. And through the dust of the path, I could make out a figure several yards away from where we were.

"Creed!" Train cried. Train took off at a run towards the figure. I followed too, but at a distance. On every jumbo screen TV in the city, the World Summit broadcast was interrupted and a man appeared on screen. He had medium length blonde hair that came off in spikes; and bright blue eyes that didn't seem stable somehow. He wore black and held a red rose. This was Creed?

"Well hello Train, it's good to see you again." He said. "Did you see it, the extent of my power?" Creed asked, clearly pleased with his work. "I must admit, when I heard about you accepting my invitation today, I was more than a little over-joyed." I didn't hear the rest of Creed's speech; I was too worried about keeping up with Train. I copied his every move, leaping over rubble and running at full speed. TRAIN!

"Let me introduce you to the Apostles of the Stars." Creed said. I stopped to catch my breath, I looked up and a yard away was Creed, and Train was aiming his gun point blank at Creed. "Congratulations, Train," Creed continued. "You arrived just in time to witness this amazing crusade." Creed's blue eyes widened. "Now, your only option is to join me and-" A bullet was fired from Hades, and all Creed had to do was move his head.

"Tell me," Train said, angry emotions ragging his voice. "Why did you have to kill Saya?" Saya, this man is the reason Saya is dead?! He's the reason why?!

Creed's face lightened. "Those eyes, that evil look in them! That's what I remember so well about you! I'd kill that witch again just to get another glimpse of them!" I got a glimpse of them, those weren't Train Heartnet's these were the eyes of Black Cat.

"DAMN YOU!" Train cried. And fired bullet after bullet at Creed only to be sliced into two by, what? Creed held a sword hilt, but there was no blade, no, wait. Megan said that Saya was killed by an invisible sword.

"We're not lying to you; it really was an invisible sword." The girls had said. "We saw the blood dripping off of it."

"YOU'RE DEAD!" Train exclaimed and charged towards Creed. Creed raised the sword hilt and slashed it, and another force of blue light deflected Train. Train fired more bullets but they were sliced in two again.

"Don't waste your energy, Train." Creed said. Train roared and kept charging but kept getting deflected. And I could see where this was going to go, with Train dying.

"TRAIN, STOP IT! NO, TRAIN!" I shout.

Creed pointed his blazing sword at Train. "Your anger is blinding you to the fact that you're power can't suppress mine. But that's not a problem, once you accept and harness the power of Tao…" he swung his sword back and blasted Train backwards.

"NO," Train said. "I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID!" He flipped a red bullet into the air, an exploding bullet, and he clicked it into the gun in mid-air. Wow, he's good. Hades clicked and the bullet went straight through Creed's chest, I stopped running. Creed stood motionless, his back arched for a split second, then he straightened.

"Amazing, truly, but it makes no difference." Creed said. I could see the hole that the bullet made, but it started to close up rapidly. "I'm not the man I was before."

"T-that's impossible…" Train gasped.

Creed dusted dirt off of his sleeve. "This is just one of the virtues of Tao, isn't it great?" he said. "You can have the same power if you wise up and join me."

Hades clicked again. "You make me sick!" Train said, and then Hades began to quake, and then Train fell to the ground, still clutching onto Hades.

"Heavy, isn't it? I just made that pistol weight about four hundred pounds." a man said. He was, whoa, he looked like one of those sumo wrestlers from Japan. I saw sweat trickle down Train's face.

A piece of paper flew towards Train, and it transformed into a grotesque bug that wrapped itself around Train.

"RECEIVE, BINDING INSCET CURSE!" a person said. The person I saw earlier today, the one with the turban, by the sound of their voice it seemed like this person was a boy.

"Now, come with me and I'll make it stop." Creed said.

"N-no way Creed, I'd rather die than join you!" Train groaned. He was desperately trying to aim his gun up.

"You're more stubborn than I thought." Creed said.

"TRAIN!" I shout again. I stood a mere foot away from both of them. I pant and aim my gun at Creed.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Train blurted. "Get back!"

Creed look pissed. "Who is this scum?!" he demanded.

"She's no one Creed!" Train groaned. "Leave her out of this!" Creed didn't listen.

"How dare you interfere with our reunion, you witch!" He took a step towards me.

What happened next was so fast; Sven came charging out of nowhere, throwing himself in front of Train as a gunfire, not mine or Train's, went off, Sven collapsed to the ground. Rinslet and Eve came running towards us.

"Oh-no!" Eve cried.

"Sven!" Train and I cry out. I sprint towards Sven; Creed was too distracted to notice. I rushed to his side. Sven tried to get up, but he couldn't.

"Sven, Sven!" I cry. "Oh god, don't die on me!" Tears of fear ran down my cheeks and I just let them go. "Sven!" he grimaced in pain.

"Sven!" Rinslet cried. I looked back to see a man wearing clothes that looked like they came out of a Western film, all but the iron mask over his mouth. He held a gun, and smoke was fuming out of it.

"Durum…" Creed said. He jerked his head to face the man. "Why'd you shoot? Damn you!" Durum looked away. Creed faced us. "I'm so sorry about this, Train, this is not what I had planned for today; I wanted our reunion to be special." he said sincerely. Train gritted his teeth. Creed looked hurt. "It's too bad, I guess I'll just have to be satisfied by seeing you, but I won't give up." He looked to a woman, no, that was Echidna Parass, the actress. She drew a circle in mid-air and a black hole appeared. Creed's face went serious. "Make no doubt about it, Train, you will join the Apostles of the Stars in due time. Just wait." The bug binding Train vanished. All of the other members vanished through the portal. "And don't believe that death will be a way out of this." He headed towards the portal. "I won't allow it."

Train shot to his feet and ran towards Creed. "WAIT!" he said just as it was closing. Sven grabbed him, being as crippled as he was. "Get your hands off me Sven!" Train cried as he tried to shove him away, but Sven wouldn't let go.

"Stop it Train, it's not worth it!" Sven cried.

Train aimed Hades at the closing portal. "DIE!" he fired several bullets at the portal but none hit it. It closed and vanished. Train screamed in anger. He panted and lowered his gun. Sven let go of Train and fell towards the ground, but Train grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him up. "Damn you Sven, why'd you stop me?" Train demanded.

"CAN'T YOU SEE HOW RECKLESS YOU'VE BECOME?!" Sven screamed at him. "IT'S AS IF YOU WANT TO DIE!"

"BUT IT'S MY LIFE AND I CAN DO WHATEVER THE HELL I WANT!" Train screamed back. Sven punched him, hard, so hard that he flew backwards.

"STOP ACTING!" Sven yelled. "WITHOUT US YOU'D BE WORTHLESS; WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THAT?!" Sven groaned. Eve grabbed his arm.

"Sven stop it!" I look at Train, I felt so many emotions that I couldn't help but let tears flood out of my eyes.

"Kristen," Train began. I look away from him, not meeting his gaze at all, and I didn't for the rest of the day.

In the evening, around twilight, cop and ambulance sirens wailing in the distance, we parked on a hill side that overview the lake, we decided to camp out here. Sven leaned against a tree as Eve tended to his wound, I sat on an iron railing, and Rinslet stood over Train as he lied on the hill.

"How long are you planning to sulk?" Rinslet asked Train. He didn't respond. "So what's it feel like? Being like a child and causing trouble for everyone that cares about you, and to top it off, getting slugged in the face for it." Rinslet looked at Sven. "I feel sorry for Sven, risking his life for someone who doesn't even care about him."

"Rinslet," I say. "Let me handle this, please." Rinslet looked at me, nodded, and stepped back. I stood up and sat on the hill next to Train. We were quiet for a while until Train spoke up.

"How long are you going to give me the silent treatment?"

"I was just getting warmed up." I say and let out a long sigh. "Sven knew that you were going to get hit by that bullet, you know. That's the vision eye's ability, to see a few seconds into the future. Do you know how he can do this?"

Train shook his head. "No,"

I look onto the ocean. "It goes back seven years ago, when Sven was still an International Agent." I begin. "He had a partner named Lloyd; the two of them were really close friends and always worked together on cases." I look at Train. "Lloyd had the vision eye ability first, he saw things like Sven, and it'd save their lives several times." I paused a half-beat. "But on the day of Lloyd's daughter's second birthday, Sven was abducted by a gang wanting to get rid of him. They took out Sven's right eye and chained him to a pipe. Lloyd had a vision, and he knew that Sven would need back-up, but if he went, Lloyd knew that he'd be killed. But Lloyd came anyway and sure enough…" I stop. I remember Sven telling me the story, when we visited Lloyd's grave a month after we began working together. "Sven's vision eye was the last gift from Lloyd, before he died. It's a constant reminder of Sven's tragic past." I look at Train, he looked thoughtful.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked.

"Sven's not a complicated guy," I say. "If he cares about someone, he fights for them." I stand up. "Sven, he's my best friend, and I'll beat the shit out of anyone who takes him for granite." I turn around and begin to walk away. "So you two better kiss and make up."

The next morning, I woke up to see the sun rise over the lake, but I didn't sit up. Sven was up, smoking and sipping coffee; he already seemed to be looking better. Train gave him a light smack on the head. Sven looked at him.

"I'm hungry," he said. "But nothing too special, some bacon, eggs, toast, and milk, I won't even ask for desert." I guess this was Train's special way of saying sorry.

Sven smiled, it wasn't a nice smile. "Maybe I didn't punch you hard enough." And then Sven punched Train in the face again.

"Ouch, that hurt!"

"Well compared to what I had to go through yesterday that was a love-tap!" The two of them broke out into an argument, and I stifled a grin. Train, you still have _a lot_ of making up to do, but for now, we can be friends again.


	15. Chapter 15

_Imposter_

_ "Look at him," Sven said, looking at Train. "All he does is eat and sleep, just like a real cat."_

_ "Well, he is Black Cat." I say. Train was asleep in the backseat with me while Eve took up the passenger seat. I was still really pissed with Train from yesterday. Sven clutched his arm as he winced in pain._

_ "If your wound hurts," Eve said. "I can drive." I look at the cover of her latest book;_ Elementary on Drift Turn.

"Uh, there are a few problems with that Eve," I say. "For one thing, you're too young to drive and you don't have a license, but you're very kind to offer."

"And that's not the kind of driving you do on a mountain." Sven said. "But, you know, thanks for offering." Sven focused back on the road. "So, those Wanted posters Rinslet sent us, who's the guy again? His name sounded sort of like a fruit I think."

Eve held up a poster. "Our current target is a man named Blum Pullman, worth eight thousand dollars."

"Oh yeah, it does sort of sound like a fruit." I say. "But seriously, that's chicken's feed."

"I have recently learned the term 'beggars cannot be choosers'. Eve replied.

"And we're the beggars, aren't we?" Sven said.

Train mumbled in his sleep. "I could go for some salmon and clam chowder…"

We stare at him in disbelief. "When he's not eating it, he's dreaming about it, and he really likes expensive foods." Train chuckled in his sleep a bit and went back to snoring.

We arrived in a town called El Tope, which was a small town near the Manzano Mountains in New Mexico; it sort of looked like it belonged in an old Western film. Everything about the place screamed Mexican Standoff from the inn we were staying at to the bar and diner we went to for lunch. And, how surprising was this, our waitress came to us again. When we asked about Blum, we got a nasty surprise; Blum had already been caught.

"Are you serious?! Pullman got arrested?!" Sven cried while Eve wrapped more bandages around his wounded arm.

"Sure did," The waitress said.

"Uh that hurts!" Sven said. I couldn't tell if he was referring to his wounded arm or the idea of losing another bounty. "Say, you're not following us, are you?" Sven asked.

The waitress smiled. "No, I just like to keep moving, I've got really good stories." She closed her eyes and smiled. "Nice arm, what happened there?"

"I ran into a wall," Sven groaned.

"I see," she said.

"Can I get a coffee for my partner, a juice for Eve, soda for me," I say, digging out the correct amount of cash for the drinks and glared at Train, who was looking over the menu. "And water for him," He didn't notice.

"Sure thing," The waitress said and walked off.

"Thanks," Sven said and groaned.

"Is that your wounded pride you're squealing about?" Train asked without taking his eyes off the menu.

"Whose hide was I saving when I got shot?!" Sven cried.

"And I said thank you." Train said. Sven bared his teeth at Train. "And I thought we moved past that."

The waitress came back with the drinks and a plate of, how predictable was this, bread crusts. "Here, on the house." The waitress said.

"Alright yeah!" Train said putting the menu down, and then frowning. "Aren't these just more bread crusts?"

"No, they're _fried_ bread crusts."

"That doesn't seem healthy." I say handing the payment for the drinks. The waitress took it.

"Just say thanks." Sven said. "You never want to turn up your nose to free-"

Eve looked over to Train. "Listen to me Train, someone else turned in Pullman and got the bounty while we have not even paid Sven's medical bill so stop being picky." I nod.

"Your daughter is real mature for her age." The waitress said as Train slowly began to eat his bread crusts.

"SHE'S NOT MY DAUGHTER!" Sven cried.

I shake my head. "So, can you tell me who turned in Pullman and when?"

"Sure, it happened here on the lunch shift." The waitress said. "I don't know him but I think he said his name was Black Cat?"

I choke on my soda and cough several times. "How could it have been Black Cat?!" we all stare at Train, still slowly munching on bread crusts.

"Apparently, he's a big shot in the underworld." The waitress said. "He's cold, calculating, and cruel. They said he was a hired assassin before he turned to sweeping. Word goes is that he vanished about a month ago but resurfaced last week, he's already gotten three bounties."

Sven looked back at the waitress. "You were here, so what did he look like?"

"Um, he was like forty, had a goatee, a beard, gut, love handle." She chuckled. "He should really ditch the name Black Cat to Fat Cat though." The waitress left.

That was so not Train, he was an imposter, and if he's using the name Black Cat, he could attract unwanted attention from Chronos, and the Apostles.

For a few minutes we sat in silence. Eve offered to go down to the corner drug store and buy Sven some medicine for his wound. I gave her twenty bucks and she left. Train obviously didn't notice; he just sighed, laid back and rubbed his belly with his eyes closed. "Now I need a nap… Hey Princess, can you scurry off and get me some milk?" He opened his eyes and sat up. "Hey, where's princess?"

"Down by the corner drug store," I say.

"Yeah? What for?" Train asked.

"For a bullet hole for your savior," Sven said. He narrowed his eyes at Train. "And _that's_ just how nice she is."

Train looked to the waitress and raised his hand. "Waitress, can I get some milk?" He laid back down.

"I gotta pay for that you know!" Sven cried.

I groan. "What are we gonna do about this?" I wonder out loud.

"About what?" Train asked.

"About your imposter,"

He turned his back on us. "After much thought, I say nothing." I couldn't believe this, he'd let an innocent man get killed in his place?

"Why not? People are still after you and your idea will just get an innocent man killed in your place!" I blurt.

Train opened his eyes, snatched something from the air and a purple powder drifted to the ground. "If they want me they'll find me."

"I don't see how you can be so relaxed about this," I say.

Train sat up. "I don't see how you can be so stressed out about this." He shot back, and then paused. "Hey, now that I think about it, you have been pretty fummed lately."

"And you're wondering why?" I ask. "You've been driving me crazy for weeks."

Train stared at me for a bit. "When was the last time you did something fun?"

"I don't see why you should know." I say turning my back on him.

"Just answer the question." He said.

"I don't know, not until the festival back in Idaho, but that was short." I say. There was silence for a bit and then Train grabbed my wrist and pulled me backwards. "Train what the hell!" I blurt as I struggle to regain balance.

"You need to let go," he said pulling me to my feet. "Sven, we'll be back in a bit,"

"What are you planning?" Sven asked.

Train smiled, it was a play full one. "Me and the Black Knight over here are going to wander."

"Wait, what?!" I yelp as Train dragged me towards the door.

"It'll be fun, and that's been in short supply as of late." Train said opening the door. "Let's go," After getting about ten feet away from the diner I jerked my arm away from Train and stumbled for balance, he helped.

"Why did you do that?" I blurt.

"You seemed stressed lately," he said. "So why don't we have some fun?"

"Wait, what?" I ask, dumbfounded.

He frowned. "Unless being with cat boy is too much of a nuisance for you." I pause a half beat and he held out his hand. "Do you think you can call off the silent treatment for a bit?" I look at his hand, and slowly, put mine into his. He smiled again. "Great, let's wander."

The early evening air was actually kind of pleasant as Train led me through the city to the outer part of town.

"What are we doing here?" I ask. Train pointed upwards silently, and I looked up. I gasped a bit; because the sky was filled with stars, thousands of them, and they created a light that made the desert sand glow in a plasmatic purple light. "Wow," I say in awe.

"Yeah," Train said with a shrug. "Sven said that since we're so far away from big cities, the sky is very clear." He took a seat on a large rock, and I sat next to him.

"I've never seen something like this," I say.

"What have you seen?" Train asked. "I mean, you've got to have seen some amazing things on your Sweeper jobs."

"Well," I say. "I've seen the lavender fields in Provence France and a Japanese themed garden in Poland. They were some of the most beautiful things I've ever seen." I looked at Train. "What about you?"

"Nothing really," he said. "When you're a member of Chronos, you do a job as fast as you can so you don't get to see the sights."

"That must be really… hard…"

"Yeah," Train said. "But I once saw the stars over the Indian Ocean, and that was amazing." He looked back up at the sky.

I look up at the sky. "What about these?"

"Oh, they're nice too," he said. We were silent for a while.

"Actually," I say. "I wish I could see the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. I heard that it was one of the most beautiful things in the world."

"Maybe one day we can all see," Train said. "Sven, Eve, me and you, if you want."

"I, I'd like that."

"That'd be fun," Train said. "I hear that Washington D.C. also has the best sunrise at the Veteran's Memorial, we'd see that too." More silence. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Why didn't you shoot me?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, at Tyrant's manor, you had a clear shot of me, so why didn't you fire at me?" Train asked.

I was silent for a moment. "I don't like to shoot," I say.

"Why?"

"The thought of taking a life, even a person I hate, it's unbearable." I say. It's true though. "I don't shoot unless I have to, for safety measures or because I'm told to do so."

"Didn't Sven tell you to shoot me?"

"Yeah…" I say. "It just didn't seem right to do so," I say. "I don't shoot unless I detect a threat."

"That's a good quality to have," Train said. "And, I gotta say thanks, otherwise we wouldn't be here."

"Yeah," I say wistfully. I look at him, and oh my god, he looked totally hot with the star's light illuminating his face. He looked at me, and the stars reflected in his golden eyes. Holy crap, he was so handsome, and the moment was so perfect, and the sky was so beautiful, and he was so... amazing. I smiled and tried to decide whether or not to kiss him, oh god, why would I even consider that? But then again, Sweet Sixteen and never been kissed, right?

"Well, we should head back, right?" Train asked, getting up.

"Yeah," I say. But in truth, I wanted to stay; I wanted this moment to last forever. We walked back to town as slow as we could; walking under the stars. Train stopped and pointed up.

"Look," he said. I look and see a flash of light blaze across the sky, and then another. "Shooting stars,"

"Wow," I say. And I secretly wished on one. I wished to see this place again, some day.

"Let's continue." Train said. And then after about two minutes we walked into town. About a few seconds later, Train started rapping this song about a Milk Festival.

"White milk, red milk, yellow milk is oh so bad, oh oh oh oh oh, oh yeah milk festival is coming to town!" Train rapped. I stifled a laugh. Train looked at me with a wide grin. "Well, I like milk."

"I can tell," I say. "And is there actually a milk festival?" I ask, but before he could answer Train stopped and looked over his left shoulder. I stop. "What?"

"Yo, Princess, watcha doing in a place like this?" Train asked. I turned to see a cake shop with the main window broken. I could see Eve inside with a really fat guy, and I mean FAT. And a man wearing western clothes and an iron mask over his mouth. He looked familiar somehow, and the idea set off alarms in my nerves, telling me to run.

"Black Cat!" the man said, he turned around and I could see the pistol in his hand. He aimed it at Train.

"Wait, I know you," Train said. "You tried to kill me!" I think back and then it hit me like a slap in the face. He was a member of the Apostles, Durum I think, he was the one who shot the bullet that Sven blocked. I heard the click, and I knew instantly that this time, he wasn't planning on missing his target. "Kristen," Train said. "Find somewhere to hide; this is going to get ugly."

For once I don't argue with him, because I know that I can't take this guy, because it's one thing if it's a criminal, another thing for an Apostle. I run over to a stack of crates and watch from behind, but I'm itching to fight back.

Bullets came exploding out of Durum's gun at super speed, streaking red. Train ran, leapt and dodged the bullets the best he could. One missed me by over an inch, and I saw it vanish into red mist. What was it made of anyway? Not lead for sure, or orichalcum for that matter. Could this possibly be a use for Tao and Spirit Water? That's impossible, but then, this week has been the most surreal of my life.

Durum charged forward and Train pulled out Hades, and he deflected several of Durum's bullets. Durum chuckled and aimed his pistol again at Train, how many bullets does this guy even have?

"It's a waste of time to wait for me to run out of bullets." Durum said. "This pistol can channel my chi energy so I have an endless supply." He fired another bullet and Train used Hades to deflect it. Train was silent. "Let's see how well you dodge this," Durum said. Another bullet left the chamber of the pistol, it flew past Train. That wasn't, it dawned on me, a mistake, he meant to miss. Sure enough, the bullet turned and hurdled towards Train from behind like a heat seeking missile, Train looked shocked.

I wanted to look away, but my eyes locked onto Train. I manage to close my eyes and hear the bang. Slowly, I open one and get shocked. Train was still standing as a bullet fell to the ground, vanishing into red mist, and another bullet, a real one, hit the ground. Train was pointing Hades upwards.

He had done it, he had done the impossible. At the last second, he pulled up Hades and had managed to fire one of his own bullets to counteract Durum's, almost exactly like when he had counteracted that other Chrono's bullet that night.

Train looked up, his eyes hard. "Tell me, was it Creed who told you to come get me?" Durum, panicked, fired more of the bullets towards Train, but he easily deflected them with Hades. And in the blink of an eye, he had Hades under Durum's chin. "Tough luck, Creed Diskins is the only one I want to fight."

A sheen of sweat trickled down what flesh showed under Durum's western hat. "Damn you!" he said. The iron mouth cover suddenly opened up like a mouth and I saw the end of a machine gun under it, another red bullet preparing to leave the chamber.

In a moment of sheer adrenalin, I sprinted towards the two, and we did the same thing; we hit Durum in the face with our guns as hard as possible. Durum fell to the ground, out cold.

"Now that was awesome," Train said.

"Thanks," I say.

A car pulled up behind him, our car. Sven and, _didn't see this coming_, Rinslet Walker were in it, but I could hear what they were saying.

"You dragged me around town without one lead?" Sven scolded.

"Give me a break, they're the Apostles of the Stars," Rinslet said. "It's not like you can look up their address in a phone book."

"I can't believe we wasted all this time…" Sven said. The two 'adults' climbed out of the car. "Where are we…?" Sven moaned, and then he saw us. "Huh? I thought you were at the inn! What are you guys doing here?"

"Just hanging out," Train said, while watching an unconscious Durum from the corner of his vision.

"You know," Sven said the next day to Rinslet. "You have some pretty sick ideas, I'll give you that."

Rinslet laughed. "Come on Sven, what's wrong with letting the bad guy show us where the other bad guys are?" I look out the window. "What else would we do with him?" On our left, the fat man from the shop, (whose name is Woodney and was our imposter Black Cat) was riding on a scooter with Durum tied up with rope and trailing behind him on a skateboard. It was hilarious, I took pictures with my phone.

"By the way, who's the fat dude on the scooter?" Sven asked.

"The old man wants to be Train's apprentice." Eve said.

Woodney looked at us. "Oh come on you guys, I may be a bit over weight but I'm a young person. Only twenty years old!"

TWENTY YEARS OLD?! We all cry. Twenty, yeah right, 1920 comes to mind.

I laugh. "Train, there's _no_ way he's twenty, don't you think?" I ask Train. When I got no response I looked at him in the front seat. He seemed distant; he wasn't even drinking the milk I gave him. "Train," I ask, and touch him on the arm. He blinked and looked back at me.

"Huh, what?"

"There's no way Woodney is twenty." I repeat. "You ok?"

"I-I'm fine," he said. "I just don't want to talk about it."

"Ok…" I say reluctantly as I inch back into my seat. And in the rear view mirror I watched the small town vanish, hoping that one day I could come back to see the sky again, with Train.


	16. Chapter 16

Destiny

After driving for, about, the rest of the day, we finally had to stop because Sven needed rest due to his arm. The moon was already high in the sky when we pulled over on a cliff, luckily the road was abandoned.

"We rest up tonight," Sven said passing blankets back to Eve, me and Rinslet. "Tomorrow we're going to be driving all day so get plenty of rest."

"Ok," I say, looking at Train in the rearview mirror. I didn't intend to fall asleep, but I guess I did. But I wouldn't have remembered it. A startled flinch woke me up and when I checked Sven's watch it was three in the morning. I turned over, facing the window and saw Train out there, just standing near the ledge, watching the moon.

Concerned, I removed the blanket, opened the car door, and walked towards him. Silently, I stood beside him. If he noticed me, he didn't show it.

"Hey," I say softly. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Not really," he said wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Train," I say. "I want to help you, so please let me."

He looked at me for a long second. "No, I can't let you get yourself killed."

"Well, you saved the lives of my two sisters so I'm not going to go let you get yourself killed like a dumbass."

"I won't get myself killed," Train said.

"Yes you will if you keep running after Creed whenever he shows his face." I point out. He looked away from me.

"Kristen, Saya was strong, really strong." He said. "She wouldn't let herself get killed easily so…"

"So, Creed did kill Saya, right?"

"Yeah," Train said. "Now will you please just let me do what I have to do?"

"Not alone," I say, I hadn't exactly told him that I knew Saya. "I want to help."

"Why? You didn't know Saya." Train said. More silence.

"Actually, Train," I say slowly. "The truth is that I, I knew Saya too…" Train jerked his head towards me.

"What?"

"I knew her, well, we only talked three times in all," I say. "But she was a good person, she talked about you. I want to avenge her too, but there's sometimes where you wait for the right moment." I kept the kimono doll in my jacket since the night we left Idaho, so I took it out and handed it to Train. He didn't take it, but he looked at it.

"But you knew her?" Train said. I nod. He looked off into the ocean. "Never mind, look I know that this seems wrong, and I don't want to kill anymore, but I'm doing this for Saya and for the greater good of everyone."

"But what if the sacrifice is too great?" I ask.

"It doesn't matter, Kristen."

"Train…" I begin again. But then I felt a sting on my arm. "Ouch." I say swatting the spot, a really ugly bug had stung me on the arm, but I crushed it under my hand.

"What?" Train asked.

"Just a small sting from a bug," I say. "But anyway Train…" I fall over to the road with no reason whatsoever; it's as if my limbs suddenly vanished.

"Kristen!" Train cried. "Are you ok?"

"I, I don't know," I gasp. I try to sit up but my body won't respond. "I, I can't get up!" Oh my god! There was a flash of light, and Train cried out in surprise. I squint against the light and try to see what's going on, but I can't see a thing. "Train, where are you?!" I call. He called back but no sight of him, and then I see a figure coming from the light, a man probably.

And then I feel the hard impact in the back of my head, and then everything went black.

Light flooded through my eyelids and I slowly open them, I blink several times before my vision returns. I'm lying on my side in some kind of room, one with lots of windows. I try to shield my eyes with my hand but my arms won't cooperate.

"Well, look who's awake," a voice said. Someone, a man with a lab coat, black hair and glasses, walked into my peripheral vision. I've never seen him before, but panic jolts through my spine at the sight of his smile. "Now, don't look so afraid, I'm not going to hurt you." I can't move, but I can move my fingers again, but what help is that?

"What the hell did you do to me?" I demand, my voice sounded groggy and weak. "And where the hell am I?"

"I know you have several questions," the man said. "And I've been instructed by Creed to answer them."

"Creed, you're an Apostle?" I choke.

"Yes," the man said, pushing his glasses up against his nose. "Call me Doctor. You are Kristen, correct?" I glare at him. "I believe so." I curl my stiff fingers into fists the best I could, and Doctor smiled. "Amazing, Shiki's venom that is, this type in particular will numb your body for twelve hours. You still have thirty minutes before you are able to stand."

"Where the hell am I?" I demand again.

"You are at the Apostle's Castle, hidden in the Manzano Mountains." Doctor replied. "And I'll guess that you're wondering what you're doing here?" I don't answer. "To be honest, I have no official answer for why Creed asked me to distract Black Cat, while having Shiki stun you and to have Echidna knock you out to bring you here instead of killing you, but I guess he has a plan."

"Where's Train?"

"I guess that's to be expected," Doctor said. "Very well, Shiki will be here in a second." He grabbed my arm and pulled me to a sitting position against a pole, and then he took my wrists and tied them behind me.

I desperately want to fight back, but whatever that bug stung me with is strong.

"It's nothing personal," Doctor said. "But I can't risk you getting free." He began to walk away, only stopping for a second. "You should be able to move your neck in a minute, but I don't see how that could help you."

"Bastard," I growl. Doctor left. After a minute, the short guy in a turban came in with a small crystal ball. I tried to move my wrists again, but they were still stunned.

"You're stronger than most people I've met." The guy said. "Most people won't be able to move at all for at least a day, but you've seemed to regain feeling in your fingers."

"Where's Train you bastard?" I cry.

The guy chuckled. "My name is Shiki,"

I let out an annoyed sigh. "Fine then, where's Train, Shiki?" He held out his crystal ball, and Train's image popped up in it. He was riding Woodney's motor bike, and he had a murderous look on his face.

"It appears that he's coming for us, and at the speed he's going, it'll be only a few minutes until he gets here." Shiki's one eye showing through the turban mask locked onto me.

"Why does Creed need Train?" I blurt.

"I'm not sure why exactly," Shiki said. "But I know that Train has incredible aim."

"You already have a gunman, that guy with the Western clothes." I say. "Why do you have to have Train? Why can't he just be free?"

"You'll have to ask Creed that," Shiki said.

"Bastard! As if!" I scream and jerk my wrists as hard as I can, which wasn't much. But it did make Shiki take a step back. I take in deep gulps of air.

"There's no point in trying to escape." Shiki said. "You're too weak to even stand up, and you dropped your gun when you fell over back at the road so you can't fight back." A boom from under us made Shiki jump. I couldn't jump because my legs felt like cooked pasta.

"What the hell?" I say.

Another image came into view in Shiki's crystal ball, Jenos Hazard and a couple other people, Chronos Numbers, were fighting Kyoko, that guy who looked like a sumo wrestler, and a boy.

"Jenos Hazard?" I ask.

Shiki laughed again. "It appears we have guest." Doctor came from behind Shiki again. "You remember the plan,"

"Oh, I do," Doctor said. He reached for me but with all of my strength I broke the rope around my wrists and hit Doctor's hand as hard as I could. At least I had regained some strength.

"Tough little bitch," Shiki said.

"Bite me," I growl as I try to stand, I can stand but I stumble a lot. Doctor easily walked over to me and grabbed me by the wrist and began dragging me towards the black hole thing. I fought with every ounce of strength I had, it wasn't much. And we walked into the hole.

I felt weird, like some invisible pressure was pushing against my body. And in a second we were in another room, one with two stone cross things, with Sven and Rinslet Walker on them!

"Kristen!" Sven cried.

"Oh my god, you're ok?!" Rinslet cried.

"Sven, Rinslet," I choke out. Doctor released my wrist and, for the third time today, I fell to the ground, unable to get up. Freaking drugs or whatever... *: (

"Oh god, are you ok?" Sven cried. "What did you do to her you bastards?"

"I'm ok," I say. "Sort of, but I can't move." Looking around as best I could, Eve wasn't here. "Where's Eve?"

"We don't know, we got separated, can't you stand?" Rinslet asked.

"She'll be fine in about an hour," Doctor smiled. "If she lives that long anyway," the ground shifted and turned into another room. (Are these people just too lazy to use doors?) This room only had a tub in it, and Creed was pointing his sword at Train who was aiming his gun at Creed. Train looked over towards us, eyes wide with surprise.

"TRAIN, NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Sven cried.

"Do… it…now…" Creed said. Was he actually anticipating Train to kill him? "Train, it's my decision for you to slay me." Yep, he was asking Train to kill him. "No sacrifice is too great if it's for you. I am willing to tear down everything to build you back up." Train kept staring at Creed. "Now shoot, SHOOT ME!" There was a moment where everything stood still, and then a bullet launched out of Hades, but it got deflected. Another black hole was by Creed's head, and an arm was sticking out of it, it dropped a gun.

A cloud of red came charging out of the corner towards Train but Creed sliced through it. It splashed to the ground, blood, that's still gross. Chardon was in the corner by the door, and Echidna Parass's head stuck out of the black hole.

Creed breathed heavily, and Train stood up. "Chardon! Echidna!" Creed cried. "No matter what you see do not get between Train and me!"

"But it's obvious!" Chardon protested. "Black Cat has no intention in joining the Apostles-"

"SHUT UP!" Creed screamed. "Contradict me again and you die!" The doors in the corner burst open; Jenos Hazard along with two other men came in, Chronos Numbers five and eleven by their tattoos.

"Rinslet?!" Jenos gasped.

"Jenos!" Rinslet gasped. This threw Creed over the edge.

"NO MORE INTERUPTIONS!" he screamed. He brought his invisible sword to the ready and began swinging it around the room. Stone was ripped into two; the floor cracked and was ripped apart. I could feel the unsteadiness rocking the castle that made my stomach flip. Jenos's portion of the floor was sliced away from the more stable half and began to plummet towards the ground.

"NO JENOS!" A man cried; the one with the number five. Jenos's glove with the orichalcum stings had claws and they dug into the stone the best he could.

Echidna cried out. "WHERE'S CREED?!"

Rocks began to fall towards Rinslet, and she couldn't run, she'd be crushed. She screamed as orichalcum strings cut through the rock. Jenos, I guess you aren't a total bastard, but if you did that, wouldn't that mean..? Jenos plummeted towards earth.

"JENOS!" Rinslet cried.

"I'VE ALWAYS LOVED YOU RINSLET WALKER!" Jenos called. Those were his last words? Well, at least they were selfless. More rock got cut through, and my numbed body couldn't withstand it. I dug my stiff fingers into the rock as more and more of the room was sliced into two. It finally stopped.

Creed laughed. "Too bad, all this confusion while we're trying to bond as men." He said; his eyes practically glowed with the idea of getting Train to himself. "I promise that no one else will come between us." Looking at the damage, it was horrible. We were all standing on our own pillars, held up by barely stable stone.

My fingers clawed against the rocking slab of earth I so desperately tried to grasp onto, I was near the edge of our pillar, and gravity was failing me.

"Now that all the distractions have been cast aside, why don't we fight until there's only one of us stands?"

"TRAIN DON'T DO IT!" Sven cried.

"YEAH LISTEN TO HIM; USE YOUR SPECIAL SKILLS TO GET US THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Rinslet screamed.

"LOOK, I DON'T KNOW THE HISTORY BETWEEN YOU TWO, BUT KILLING HIM ISN'T GOING TO BRING SAYA BACK!" Sven cried as Hades clicked. All of a sudden, Creed's sword tip was just centimeters away from Sven's chin.

"Say something else, give me a reason!" Creed said. Everyone was silent as Train aimed Hades. "Here it is Train, the moment of truth!" Creed said, fixing himself so that he faced blankly at Train's gun. "Pick a spot on my body, aim, and fire. Any bullet will do, kill me and you and I will become one. It's been a long time, but I think you're ready for the next step."

More silence, and then Train changed, his eyes did anyway. Because they weren't Train Heartnet's eyes anymore, they were Black Cat's, the eyes that I saw when Lib Tyrant died.

"Yes, that's the look in your eyes that I've missed!" Creed cried in delight. "This is the Train Heartnet I know, NOW PULL THAT TRIGGER AND RELEASE OUR DESTINIES!" Even from a distance, I could see Train putting his finger on the trigger.

And then it dawned on me, Creed didn't want Train to just join the Apostles, he wanted Train to go back to being who he was before, the assassin with no sympathy for others.

"NO!" I cry. Train stopped dead in his track, just as he was about to pull the trigger. He looked over to us. I could feel tears, tears of pleading, dripping off my face. "Please, Train…" I say through gasps. "Don't go back to being Black Cat, I'm begging you. You might never come back. Just please don't go back to being Black Cat…"

"Kristen…" Train whispered, and his eyes had gone back to the eyes of the boy I sat with watching the stars with, and Creed looked pissed with me.

"You bitch!" he screamed. "How dare you come between us!" he swung his sword towards my head and I managed to dodge it the best my numbed body could. My arms can move again and I try to pull myself closer to slightly more stable ground.

There was a loud boom and then the pillars began to rumble. "What's that?!" Sven said. There was a loud crack.

"We must leave!" Echidna cried, real fear in her voice that sparked fear in me. "The castle is collapsing!" OH SHIT.

"TRAIN, LET'S GO!" Sven cried.

"TRAIN LISTEN TO ME," I cry over the cracking rocks. "YOU'LL DIE ALONG WITH CREED IF YOU STAY HERE, LET'S GO FOR NOW!"

"Shut up!" Creed screamed. He swung his sword towards me again. And at the same time, Rinslet and Sven's crosses that they were cuffed to broke away from the pillar, and Creed's sword sliced away the portion of the pillar I was trying to hang onto, and all three of us fell towards Earth. Rinslet and I both screamed.

"TRAIN!" I cry. I actually cry as he got farther away from my vision.

"SVEN COME ON YOU'VE GOT TO SAVE US!" Rinslet cried.

"DON'T YOU THINK IT MIGHT BE A BIT LATE FOR THAT?!" Sven cried. And then two hands wrapped around us, white cartoon like hands connected to blonde hair.

"IT'S EVE!" Rinslet cried. There was Eve with angle wings flapping hard in the wind, trying to slow us down while holding a boy about her age. She was strong, no doubt about it, but by the sweat gleaming off her face I knew she wouldn't be able to hold onto us for very long, poor kid, it must hurt.

"SAVE YOURSELF!" Sven pleaded.

"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM EVE, HOLD ON TIGHT!" Rinslet protested. I knew Eve wouldn't be able to hold on, so I prayed to god that death would come fast.

There were several gun fires and then the stone crosses Sven and Rinslet were attached to broke into several chunks of rock. I looked up and saw Train leaping from falling rock to falling rock towards us.

"TRAIN!" I cry. I'd never thought I'd be so happy to see this guy. I guess Creed got rejected. Train grabbed Sven and Rinslet, and Sven grabbed me by the back of shirt.

"I GOT THEM, YOU FOLLOW!" Train called to Eve. She nodded and flew down. Us however slid down the castle rooftops, and leap off of landings and into a lake. I'd give it a 7.5, but all in all a good landing.

No one spoke for a while as we drove away from the castle, and then Rinslet spoke up. "Figures," she said looking back at the castle. "All that and walking out of there without one drop of Spirit Water," She was silent for a second. "Poor Jenos…"

"Well, I guess he isn't a total scum bag." I say.

Rinslet blushed. "Well, I guess a legendary Chronos number could survive a little fall…"

"Perhaps," I say.

"So Train," Sven said. "Why would you give up your long standing vengeance for Creed to save us? Is there a little heart growing inside you?"

"Shut up," Train said annoyed. "I just did what seemed right at the time."

"I think I know the real reason; you're not an eraser of Chronos anymore. Numbers are out of your system."

Train closed his eyes for a second, and then opened them again with a smile. "Maybe…"

"Yeah, whatever…" Sven said. It was good to see the two of them get along. "By the way, this Saya lady," Sven continued. "Was she your girlfriend?" I wondered that too, Saya had said that the two of them were good friends, but…

Train's smile fell a bit and we all fell silent, and then Train smiled again, eyes closed. "It was nothing like that," he said softly, and then turned to the window. "She was actually more like a close friend." We were silent again as we drove towards the hills.

"Huh," Eve said. "So that means you got dumped, right Train?"

._.


	17. Chapter 17

Lucifer

About two days later, we; Train, me, Sven and Eve, sat in a diner in San Francisco waiting for something interesting to happen. We were planning to leave this evening for Los Angles as soon as the traffic went down.

"Ah…" Train breathed. Sven was reading a newspaper and showed no sign of noticing. "AH…" I sat at the counter two seats down from Train, and Eve sat at a table reading her latest book. Train breathed in again and this time Sven recoiled and moved. Train let out a small sneeze and sniffed.

"Bless you." I say.

"Did you catch a cold?" Sven asked.

"No," Train sniffed.

"So even Black Cat gets sick…" Eve said.

Train looked at her. "Is it just me or did you just insult the person who saved your life?"

"No…" Eve said turning away from him. Fail.

"So, now what do we do?" I ask.

"I don't know," Sven said. "We just wait I guess."

"How boring," I sigh. So that's pretty much what we did for a few hours when I asked Sven to go walk around. He said yes so I went alone on the streets of San Francisco. When I walked past a small bakery shop I stopped to look inside the window, several cakes and deserts were on display, guess it's been longer than I thought since it was only a day before Valentine's Day. And then something in the back of my mind said that Train would probably like one of those, I don't know why I would be thinking that though. But then again, he has been helping in his own way, and I haven't really thanked him for saving us from falling off the castle, or for that night under the stars.

"Ah what the hell..?" I sigh. I go inside and look closer at the display cases. Small chocolate hearts lined the shelves with frosting designs.

"Are you interested?" A man behind the counter asked.

"I guess so," I say without looking up. My eyes fall on a heart with a small cartoon cat expertly iced on it, cheap too. "Is it alright to get that heart with the cat on it?"

The man nodded, took it out of the display case and asked. "Do you want a personalized message on it?"

I look up. "Yeah, just the word 'thanks' will be ok." I paid up for the chocolate heart after the man wrote the word on it. He even gift wrapped it in a small red box with a white ribbon.

"Have a good day Miss." The man said. I nod and leave the shop and head back to the diner. Just as I was about to open the door I stopped to put the chocolate in my coat pocket, I guess I wanted it to be a surprise.

When I entered I heard Train about to sneeze again, and this time Sven didn't recoil. Train sneezed and splashed milk all over Sven, soiling his newspaper and his outfit.

"Oh, whoops." Train said.

"YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!" Sven cried. And the two of them went at each other.

"WHATEVER, LIKE I CAN HELP IT!"

"KEEP YOUR SNOT TO YOURSELF!"

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU WERE IN MY WAY!"

"YOU AIMED AT ME I KNOW IT!"

"Can't you guys go one day without finding a reason to go at each other's throats?" I ask a little annoyed.

"There is gossip," Eve said. Oh yeah, Eve's latest books were about Astrology and Fortune telling. The boys stopped fighting for a second, Eve continued her prediction. "Train, there is someone who does not like you and is talking about you. And there is an omen of unfortunate things to come…"

"Like bad luck?" Sven asked.

"Yes… bad luck…" Eve said. We all just stared for a while, god she'd make a good fortune teller; she had the attitude for it.

"Well, he is Black Cat." I point out.

"Not funny!" Train cried.

So for the rest of the day, and pretty much all yesterday, luckily I kept the chocolate in an ice box in the back of the truck so it wouldn't melt, we sat in the diner, doing nothing and being bored.

Sometime in the evening, I heard something that was not really surprising, Train's stomach growling. I couldn't help but feel sorry; we all didn't eat anything except one cup of instant Maru Chan lunch noodles for breakfast, so now it's near dinner time. But the symphony of Train's stomach growls was getting a bit annoying.

"Sven…" Train whined. "I'm so hungry…" He leaned against Sven 'weak from hunger pain'.

"You had breakfast this morning." Sven said, doing his best to ignore Train and read his paper. Train fell out of his bar stool.

"What? That was this morning, and now its dinner time. Besides it was one cup of noodles!"

"If you've got a problem with how I run things go and get your own stinking junk." Sven said.

"Oh yeah, fine, I will, I'll get a job, and it'll pay tons!" Train said standing up and heading for the door. I scrambled to grab the chocolate from the ice box, and into a backpack that I didn't bother going through, but it was fairly heavy.

"Wait for us," I say with Eve behind me.

"We are going with you," Eve said.

"Sure, why not? The cat, the knight and the princess, we'll nab a big one!"

"I will nab one; you two will back me up." Eve said. We both stared at her as we walk down the street.

San Francisco is a Bounty Hunter city, most of them built a small dome for the rest of the Bounty Hunters to hang out in, get some shots, get a couple jobs, discuss some alliances, etc. The jobs lined the walls from purse stealers to escaped murderers. There were tables with large, muscular men drinking, gambling, working on strategies, but mostly trying to get information out of the bar tender. Bar tenders know things like news on the criminal or if the cops are suspicious.

"Hmm…" Train said. "Which one has the least bang for the buck? I want this to be easy…"

I clear my throat. "Hey, Train," He turned towards me as I reached for the chocolate box in my jacket. "With it being Valentine's Day and all, and I never got to thank you for-"

"OH MR. BLACK!" A loud, familiar voice squealed. We all turned around to see Kyoko charging towards us, tipping tables as she went. She leapt into Train and we all fell backwards over even more tables. I didn't land on the chocolate, but I sat up to see Kyoko kneeling on Train's chest. He cried out when he saw her. Ok, seriously, is she like a psychic that knows whenever Train and I have sort of romantic moments and interrupts them on purpose? Or is she just a stalker? I'm going for the second option.

"We're finally together!" Kyoko giggled. Then she, how predictable was this, puckered up her lips and leaned towards Train, wanting a kiss. Train gulped and tried to move away from her. Just as her lips were about to touch Train, how predictable was _this_, Train held up the same weird cat that was in Rubric City, is it following us?

"GROSS!" Kyoko cried. I stood up and walked over to the two with Eve, she had a banana peel on her head, weird.

"You're with the Apostles of the Stars." Train pointed out.

Kyoko raised her hand. "Sure am! Actually I was; I dropped those losers like a bad habit last week!" I blink, stunned. Is she serious? Yes, she must be telling the truth, she's too optimistic to lie.

"Huh, you dropped them?" Train asked.

Kyoko blushed. "Yeah, I quit because I didn't want to fight you 'cause I think you're the hottest, sweetest cat around! You're the bomb!"

"How odd," Eve said. "But this young woman is in fact telling the truth, Train." Kyoko got off of Train and they both stood up.

"So, you actually quit?" Train asked again.

Kyoko raised her hand. "Sure did! But let's not talk about that right now, I've got a present to give to you!"

"Uh, Train," I say when I saw who was behind us.

Kyoko fished through her bag. "I swear you're going to love this, it's totally perfect for you!" she pulled out a pick heart shaped box with a yellow ribbon tied around it. "Here!" A meaty hand grabbed Kyoko by the wrist. He was big, fat with fat lips, a green skull necklace, purple bandana and red tank top.

"Not so fast little lady," he said. "You owe me an apology for overturning my table."

"Would you please let go of me, I'm a lady!" Kyoko cried. The man threw Kyoko aside to the floor, her box falling on the floor. The man crushed it under his foot and Kyoko gasped.

"Maybe an apology won't be enough," the man said. "Maybe you'll have to earn my forgiveness in a different way, huh?"

"Gross man," I say standing to Kyoko's side. I truthfully didn't really like her but even she didn't deserve to be subdued to this creep. "She's probably like sixteen, and what you're thinking will get you some serious jail time."

"Is that any way to talk to an older man?" The man asked me.

"No, but I have an exception for dirty old men." I say.

"That was the wrong move," Kyoko said in a low voice.

"What?" I ask turning towards her. She began to shake when she stood up. Her face showed anger and I saw tears running down her face.

"I made that for Mr. Black and no one else…" she growled. I saw fire flare from around her and stepped back. "He was supposed to have my chocolates AND NOT YOU!" The man gasped and took a few steps back as fire began to ignite from Kyoko's mouth. She blasted a fire ball towards the man and I knew he was fried.

Train came running forward and kicked the man out of the ascending fire ball, the second Kyoko saw him she cut out the flame thrower power, but she set off the sprinkler system. People screamed and ran out of the building, dropping glasses of beer along the way and tipping over tables. In seconds we were the only four in the building.

Kyoko's broken box, which apparently held chocolates, was in the remains of a broken shot glass and ice, Kyoko sighed in disappointment. Train walked over to it and picked up a broken piece.

"You're not one of them any longer, right?" He asked without looking at Kyoko.

"Yeah, that's right." Kyoko said softly.

"Then don't use those powers anymore," I got a good look at Train; he was slightly covered in ash, he looked exhausted.

"Mr. Black…" Kyoko said. Then she smiled. "You've got it, never again!"

Train smiled too and took a bite of the chocolate. "This stuff's pretty good, yo princess, knight you should give it a taste." Kyoko giggled.

"Nah," I say. "It's your Valentine's Day present." I pick up a piece to examine it, I think it had a cat design on it, but I also saw small red patches in the chocolate.

"No thank you." Eve said.

Train popped another piece into his mouth. "You know, it _is_ a little spicy…" I sniffed the piece I held in my hand, it had a spicy smell to it, and then it hit me.

"Habanero pepper," I gasp. "Train, wait!" Too late, Train's face went red and sweat began trickling down his face. He began screaming and running around the dome looking for water, knocking over the perverted guy who broke Kyoko's chocolates. Train kept screaming.

"Too much habanero, maybe so..?" Kyoko wondered out loud.

Train ran into the bathroom and then there was an explosion, I saw that the main fuse box was melted due to the heat, the building began to shake and fire blasted out of a wall.

"KRISTEN, LOOK OUT!" Eve cried. Eve jumped on me and she morphed her hand into a shield that covered both of us. There were loud explosions above us as we hugged each other to wait out whatever was happening. When it all went quiet, Eve morphed her hand back and the dome was nothing but a destruction sight.

Through the dust I could make out two figures, Kyoko who was lying on a pile of rubble, and Doctor?

"Doctor..?" Kyoko asked. I saw something in his hand, a gun! Oh my god!

"Kyoko run!" I cry and run towards her, I promised that I'd protect anyone in danger as a Sweeper, and even though this is Kyoko's fault, I can't let her die.

I hear the gun blast and see a very large, very odd shaped bullet hurdle towards Kyoko's head, there's no way I could get to her in time so I stop feet away from her. Kyoko squeezed her eyes, I saw a flicker on the other side of the dome but I cover my eyes, not wanting to see a person die from a bullet to the head.

I hear a splatter and I uncover my eyes, and gasp. Because Kyoko was ok, and Train was standing in front of her, clutching his left shoulder, and blood leaked from under his shirt sleeve.

"Well, well," Doctor said. "It's our favorite stray cat." He smiled and put the gun away. "This makes the game even more interesting."

"Mr. Black!" Kyoko gasped.

"Train!" I cry.

"You scum," Train said. He said it weird as if he was sticking his tongue out, maybe he was though. "What are you doing here?" I could hear police sirens coming.

"Well, that is quite a long story," Doctor said as blood red and vein blue flashes came from the distance. "I'll deal with formal introductions and details later." He chuckled. "Sufficed to say that I highly anticipate your appearance, when next we meet."

"What did you fire?" I demand.

"Lucifer," Doctor said.

"Lucifer..?"

"What?" Train asked.

Doctor turned around. "Leon, we're leaving…" I looked up to see the boy that Eve saved, Leon huh? He and Eve exchanged a long gaze before Leon followed Doctor. Train groaned and fell to a sitting position, crap!

Kyoko ran to his side. "Mr. Black, Mr. Black!" she put a gentle hand on his shoulder, the one that wasn't bleeding. "Oh no," Kyoko wailed. "I'm sorry, you're hurt!"

"Ah, it's nothing," Train said, god, he could be such a boy. "It's just a little grave." This threw Kyoko over the edge with happiness; she began smothering him with love and affection, which would be making his shoulder worse off than it really is.

Eve stared at them. "That was the bad omen." She said. I groan and stalk over to the two just as Kyoko was about to kiss Train, and I shoved the two apart.

"Knock it off!" I yell. The police would be here any minute and the last thing I needed was a girl's puppy crush getting us all arrested. I point a finger at Kyoko. "You love Mr. Black, right?"

"Of course!" she said.

"Then I need you to go find some disinfectant and some sturdy bandages so I can close that wound, got it?" she nodded.

"I'm on it!" she jumped up and ran off.

"Thanks," Train said.

"Can you walk?" I ask. He nodded. I look at Eve. "Go find Sven, quickly!" Eve's wings morphed and soon she was air borne. "Come on; let's get you away from this place." I half lead half carried Train to the parking lot, a bunch of the Sweepers here forgot to take their cars with them, and since no one could see us behind the cars I put Train between a Subaru and a Nisan.

"Sit," I say, and he obeyed. I open the backpack I didn't care to go through before and examined the contents; I must've grabbed the bag that had all of Sven's medical supplies in it when he got shot, and luckily it had a couple water bottles in it, that would explain why it was so heavy.

I open one and hand it to Train. "Here, for the habanero peppers." I say. He drank it down noisily as I lowered the sleeve to Train's injured arm. It bled, a lot. So I carefully tried to wash the blood away so I could see how far the bullet went in, about two inches really, but it was pretty tight in. I curse under my breath; I don't have the skills to extract the bullet. I take a deep breath.

"Are you ok?" Train asked. His lips were still red, but at least he was starting to talk a little better.

"Yeah, sure," I say. "How's your tongue?"

"It still feels inflamed, but not an 'oh my god' kind of way." he said.

I go through the backpack and find pain killers. I hand one to him. "Swallow this, you'll need it."

"Why?"

"I'm going to have to get the bullet out of your shoulder." I say. "It might hurt." Train gulped down the pain killer and closed his eyes. I found a sharp rock under the Nisan and washed it off, and with as much care as handling a highly explosive stick of dynamite, or walking across a room of sleeping, rabid dogs, I lifted the bullet from the wound far enough to extract with my fingers without stabbing Train or hurting him any worse. I sigh in relief as I held Lucifer in my hands.

"Got it," I sigh and wipe sweat from my forehead.

Train opened his eyes and smiled. "You make a good doctor."

"Yeah, right," I say sarcastically as I use white cotton to clean the bullet wound again. "It's not my thing, being a Sweeper is."

"You sure about that..?"

"Positive," I say spraying his shoulder with disinfectant. "Want any more water?" Train nodded and I handed him another water bottle. When I pulled out the white bandages, the red heart shaped box with a white ribbon fell out.

Train picked it up. "What's this?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." I say. I did, what with the dome burning down and Train getting shot. "I wanted to give that to you earlier but…"

"Oh," Train opened the box. "Chocolates,"

"I bought it, so no dangers of habanero." I say tying the bandages around his shoulder and slightly around his chest.

"What does the 'thanks' mean..?" Train asked.

I felt my face grow hot so I avoided eye contact. "You know, just thanks,"

"For..?"

"For that night," I say. "The night with the stars, it was really fun…"

Train smiled, damn he was cute, and the effect of his smile flowed over me like warm water. "Well," he said. "It was the least I could do for you sparing my life a few times, I hoped it could make up for the trouble and the danger I put you in." He sighed. "And here we are; I'm in your debt again."

"You're ok," I say tying the bandages together. "You don't need to…" My voice trailed off as my eyes fell onto his honey colored eyes. I've never been so close to him before, and the whole experience was making me feel like my face was about to catch on fire. "I…" I stammer. "I'm sorry, Train, that this happened to you… and that I can't do much about it…"

"Don't be; please don't be so upset, I hate seeing you upset..."

"Why?" I ask.

He swallowed. "Because I like to see you smile, because I like you..."

I gulp down air, he's kidding, right? "Well," I say. "I like you too..."

"Train, Kristen, where are you?" Sven's voice called.

"We'll continue this conversation later, ok?" Train asked.

"Ok..."

A while later Sven found us and had brought us to a hotel room, in Train's conditions we'd be staying here for a bit. We were served dinner as Train walked into the room, with new bandages wrapped around him. He had no shirt, but his bandages covered most of his chest. Sven slurped spicy noodles with Eve in a new outfit, red this time.

"Hey, your food is on the table, don't you want to eat?" Sven asked. Train didn't respond.

"Well?" Eve asked.

"YES I WANT TO EAT, BUT I CAN'T BECAUSE MY TASTE BUDS ARE FRIED!" Train snapped at Sven, he still talked weird. Apparently the no eating rule made him a bit grouchy. "AND OF COURSE YOU JERKS GOT ME SPICY NOODLES!"

"Here, eat mine, its seafood." I say holding it out. He smiled and we traded.

"MR. BLACK!" Kyoko's voice squealed as she burst through the window and entangled her arms around him.

"HEY, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Train blurted as the two fell to the floor.

Sven pulled out his briefcase and the gun part activated. "WATCH OUT SHE'S ONE OF THE APOSTLES!"

"Do not worry about her," Eve said, her noodles were on her head. "She quit the Apostles, so I told her where we were staying."

Train looked up in utter shock. "WHAT? YOU DID WHAT!"

"I told her," Eve said, her voice steady. "If she searched for you it could give away our location."

"She has a point," I say sitting on one of the beds.

Train held up a chair, as if he were facing a lion. "What do you want from me you lunatic?!"

"I was worried!" Kyoko said pulling the chair down. "I couldn't stop thinking of that bullet when you got on account of little ol' me!"

Train's face went blank, and I remembered what Doctor had said. _Sufficed to say I highly anticipate your appearance when next we meet._ What could he have meant by that?

Train's face recoiled in pain and he fell to one knee, clutching the shoulder that got shot, he groaned in pain. I leap off the bed and kneel to his side.

"Train, what's wrong?" Sven asked.

"It's his shoulder," I gasp, putting a hand on his back. Train took deep breaths and winced. Sweat trickled down his forehead. Train screamed in pain and a yellow light illuminated off of him. And I could feel his body change, as if it was growing smaller. When the light faded I blinked.

"Mr. Black?" Kyoko asked softly.

"Train..?" I ask. We all gaped at him

"No way…" Sven said.

Train looked at us and blinked. He was the same, only eight years younger.


	18. Chapter 18

Kitty Cat

No one could figure out why Train became a kid, but we all, even Kyoko, agreed to spend some time in San Francisco until we could figure out what to do. While Sven and Train hung out in a hotel room in a different neighborhood, a rough neighborhood where I heard rumors of a gang hanging around. All in all a rough place, but Sven insisted that it was the perfect place to lie low in.

Eve, Kyoko, and I went clothes shopping for Train. After about an hour of picking out a few outfits we walked back to the room.

"Ta-da, never fear Kyoko is here!" Kyoko cheered as we entered the room.

"Hide your children..." I mutter. Train looked pissed off, but then again, he _was_ wearing one of Eve's outfits, and I could tell Sven was laughing before by his smile.

Because Train's clothes were way too big at the moment and since Eve was his size; he wore a black long sleeve shirt with dark crimson necktie with a cross, a dark crimson skirt, black knee length socks and black shoes. It was the outfit that Eve wore when we fought Igor.

Eve held out a paper bag. "We bought some clothes…"

"It's about time; I can finally get out of this stupid thing." Train said.

"Here you are Mr. Black!" Kyoko said handing him her bag of clothes.

"Alright, let's see…" A few minutes later, Train looked even more pissed off since he wore a long green shirt with a yellow hat and messenger bad, blue shorts and shoes. He looked like a kindergartener, or a preschooler.

Kyoko giggled. "Oh, look at you, you're so adorable!" she cooed, and Sven began laughing again. "It's so perfect!" Train clenched his fists. "I've always wanted a little brother; you want some cookies and milk before nap time?"

"Shut up," Train growled.

"Next outfit," I say, with sarcasm. The next outfit was even worse; short sleeved shirt, blue shorts with suspenders and a red bow tie

Sven burst out laughing. "Very becoming..!"

"He looks like a hick." I say. Eve's turn for clothes; the first outfit looked like one of those Japanese male uniforms, the blue jacket and pants.

"It's cute…" Eve said.

The next one was long green pants with several pockets, a long sleeved yellow shirt, large goggles and red head band, compliments of Kyoko. It looked so wrong even if Kyoko said it was 'positively stunning.' And the last one that Kyoko and/or Eve picked out (I never really paid attention) looked like a blue kimono, with white bands covering his chest with some sort of black stick in his mouth.

"These outfits just don't look like him." I say finally, holding out my bag. "Try this one," I had gone classic, sort of. The outfit was a white V-neck shirt, short blue jacket like his old clothes, brown short boots and gloves. Sort of reminded me of that kid from Pokémon… or was it Kingdom Hearts?

"Hmm," Sven said looking at Train. "Looks pretty good, but you know we're going to have to come up with some kind of plan to turn you back to normal again."

Train smiled, which made him look adorable. "Nah, it'll be a piece of cake," he said. "If I keep eating right and resting I'll be just fine."

"Look, this isn't a cold, alright?" Sven blurted.

"I think good food and rest would be very helpful." Eve said.

"But it was that psychopathic doctor that shot you, and the bullet wasn't full of spirit water." Sven said. "I think this has to do with Nanotechnology."

"Nanotechnology..?" Train echoed.

"Yeah, Nanotechnology…" Sven repeated.

"Nanotechnology…" Eve echoed and I saw her squeeze her hands together.

"Ok, I'm pretty sure we all know what Nanotechnology is so do we really have to keep repeating it?" I point out. "And it does seem a little bit different from what Eve's got."

"Wait, Nanotech; Nanotech like Eve..?" Train asked. "That means…" he started laughing, on him it was adorable. "Maybe I have transformation powers too!"

"I don't think it's that simple-" I begin. Then Train leapt out the window, trying to morph wings. He failed and fell to the ground, thank god that it was only a few feet down.

"Hey, where the hell are my wings?!" Train cried.

"Yeah right dummy…" Sven said.

"I said it was different from what Eve's got…" I mutter. -_-'

"Man, what a rip off, I guess I'll just have to use my own feet, how boring!" Train said. The same tone a kid would have at for playing a videogame only to lose ten seconds into it.

"Wait, Mr. Black!" Kyoko cried and ran towards the window too. "I'm coming with you!" she fell to the ground too. God, sometimes it felt like we were surrounded by two of the nuttiest people on Blue Earth.

"Eh, whatever," He stood up. "I'm going to go contact Rinslet to look into this Nanotech thing, right now it's the best lead we've got. Kristen, Eve, you're in charge."

"Sure," I say.

"Thanks a million." Sven said as he left.

"Here you go kid," A lady selling milk said as she handed him a bottle.

"Ok, ma'am thanks a lot." Train said. The four of us were walking down a more colorful version of the neighborhood, with produce stands, and we all got milk.

"You know, this is kind of sweet." Kyoko said, holding her own bottle of milk. "Walking and talking like this, it's like we're on a date and you're my boyfriend." I choke on my milk and spend thirty seconds coughing. Geez, that's like the second time I've done that. Kyoko giggled, not at me but at her 'idea'. "And Train, size does not bother me one bit, I'm the kind of girl who can pull off dating a short guy." She smiled. "Love comes in all sizes and that's just fine!" She was so excited that she splashed milk onto her head. "CAN YOU REALLY BELIEVE THE THOUGHT OF US ACTUALLY DATING; TINY MR. BLACK WITH A BIG GIRLFRIEND?"

"You know what?" I say.

"What?" Kyoko asked.

"Shut up." I say taking another swallow of milk. Well, we were all thinking it. Kyoko began laughing like an idiot. Apparently, she didn't care or was too distracted by her imagination. Train looked down at his milk.

"Anything wrong..?" I ask.

"Normally I can drink ten bottles," Train said, not looking up at me. "But now it's hard to finish one." He looked around. "And it's not just the milk; it's the town, and the people. Everything seems larger."

"I understand." I say. He wasn't listening, he seemed somewhere else.

"You ok Mr. Black?" Kyoko asked. "You seem lost." Then for no reason at all, Train darted down an alley way.

"Train, wait!" I cry and run after him. He ran towards a vacant lot and I saw a boy, about Train's size with spiked black/green hair and brown eyes, get thrown into a small ditch by a man, and other one holding a little girl, no more than four or three, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and a gun.

"So kid, are you ready to give me your answer?" a man asked. "I'll guess you'll be leaving that factory now, won't you?" the man who threw him leaned over with a smug grin. The boy gritted his teeth.

"Ha, no freaking way!" the boy said. The man snapped back to his regular height.

"What, that's funny I thought you cared about your little friend?" The man holding the little girl aimed the gun point blank at her head, she cried.

"Put her down now!" the boy yelled; a bullet barely missed his head, but it did scratch his face.

"If I were you," said the first man, also the man who fired the bullet. "I'd corporate while things are still friendly between us." He smiled. "Unless you'd like to live happily ever after in the netherworld…"

"You wouldn't dare…" the boy growled.

Train aimed Hades and fired, he shot the gun out of the man's hand. I could see the gash on the boy's face bleeding freely.

"Who's there?" the man blurted. He looked to the side; Eve had caught up with us and was standing there. While the man was distracted, Train clicked Hades again and aimed it point blank at the man's back.

"Hey," the other man said. Eve's hair fist sucker punched him and he let go of the girl. She screamed, but Eve's other hand caught her and handed the kid to me.

"You know what I can't stand?" I ask. "It's when bastards like you threaten children." The man aimed the gun at Eve with shaking hands.

"I wouldn't if I were you." Train said. The man looked at Train from the corner of his eye. "Now get moving." I handed the little girl to the boy.

"We'll let you go, just this one time," the first man said. Then the men ran away. The two kids gaped at us.

A while later, the boy and girl, wordlessly, lead the three of us to an old building. It was an old factory, with a large building with broken windows behind a more ruined brick building with an old red van parked under it. Three little boys played in the dirt next to it and when a boy with brown hair and blue eyes looked up he said "Look, it's Tim!" He and his buddies ran towards us and surrounded the boy, whose name apparently is Tim, and tried to dog pile him. The kids began laughing.

"Tim," A young female voice said. "I'm glad you're back." The kids got off Tim and ran towards a girl who stepped out of the red van.

"Leila," Tim said. The girl was pale, with light red hair and deep blue eyes behind a thin pair of glasses. She looked worried so she began walking towards us. The closer she got the younger she looked. She put a hand under Tim's face. "Oh, did they come after you again?" the girl asked.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it." Tim said. I looked past the two towards the red van to see four other kids in the van.

"What happened?" Leila asked. "You're obviously hurt." Tim was silent. A few minutes later we sat at a table made from wooden crates. Tim had a bandage on his face.

"You said that your name was Train, right?" Tim asked Train. Train nodded and Tim leapt up from his seat. "Will you help us?"

"Will I help you with what?" Train asked.

"Gangsters want to take over this factory site," Tim said. "They want to tear it down and turn it into some huge casino." Everyone was quiet for a second.

"And, you're point?" Train asked.

"We need to protect our home!" Tim cried. "We can't do it on our own; we need someone with strength to drive them away." More silence, and I noticed that Tim was staring at Hades. Train stood up.

"Sorry," he said. "This doesn't involve me." He turned around and began walking away.

"Damn it." Tim growled and walked away.

"Can I ask you why you all live here?" I ask Leila. She closed her eyes and frowned, then opened them again.

"Most of us are orphans, who lost their families." She explained. "Some of us were just abandoned for one reason or another. We used to live a quiet life, doing our jobs here and there. But that was before…"

"Before the gangsters came…" I finish.

"That's right." Leila said. "Ever since the day they killed Tim's parents, he's been at it on getting revenge." I look at Tim; he was looking out a window.

"I can't believe it," Tim snapped. "Why isn't he here at a time like this?"

Eve looked at Leila. "Who isn't here?"

"The former leader; and our very precious friend, but he's not with us now."

"A very… precious friend…" Eve echoed. She looked at me and I could tell she wanted to help the kids. I nodded and we both went down the iron stairs to find Train in the van, playing with a couple of the boys. The whole thing was adorable.

"Train," Eve said. They all looked up.

"What is it, Eve?" Train asked.

Eve looked dead serious, ok she always looked dead serious but this time you could actually see it. "Tim will take on the gangsters even if he has to do it alone. He wants to protect everyone and take revenge."

"Are you sure?" Train asked.

"Yes…" Eve said.

Train looked away. "So he's taking revenge…" He looked like he was somewhere else again, and then he came back. "That's so stupid."

"I think that I will stay here for a while." Eve said.

"What do you mean?" Train asked.

"Tim desperately wants to protect his friends." I say. "And we're both going to help." Train looked stunned. "Train look, I know you don't want to get into someone else's business, but are you really going to let a boy take on a gang by himself?" I raise one shoulder in a shrug. "Besides we're in charge of you so you really don't have a choice."

Train sighed. "Fine, I'll stay for a while, but that doesn't mean I'm going to fight."

At about sunset I found Train practicing his shooting skills on an old can. He fired and then clutched his shoulder.

"I guess the damage to my shoulder is worse than I thought…" he said, and there he went again, remembering something. "He's getting revenge…" he said, talking about Tim obviously. He freezed and I saw Tim in the shadows running back towards the factory.

"Hey Train," I say. He looked over at me. "I think dinner is almost done, you hungry?" he nodded and we both walked back to the factory, and I could swear I felt our hands brush against each other, but I didn't dare look down.

When we were walking up the iron stairs to the top of the glass portion of the factory, I could hear the kids complaining, saying 'aw gross, what is that? It's all burnt, I can't eat this stuff.' Curious, we walked faster.

"Please don't say that boys, it's rude." Leila said.

"But Miss Leila…" a boy whined.

She turned towards Eve. "Thanks Eve, that was very sweet."

Train walked towards the table. "Something smells good," he said. On the table was some black thing.

"What's that black thing?" Train asked.

"An omelet..." Eve said. Oookay...

"Oh, did you make it Princess?" Train asked.

Eve picked up the plate and held it out to Train. "Try it,"

"Me?!" Train cried.

"Ewe, you're gonna eat that?!" a little boy with brown hair asked.

"Come on!" another boy, this one with blonde hair, said.

"Eat it," another brown haired boy encouraged. Then the whole table began cheering for Train to eat the omelet. Train grimaced at the plate, Eve stared at him. He sighed, took a piece of the omelet, quickly popped it into his mouth, and chewed. "It's not all that bad, just a little burnt, that's all." he said, surprised.

All the other kids took pieces and ate, I did too, and like Train said, it was good, only burnt, but I wouldn't recommend Eve to become an omelet chief. I noticed that Train had been learning the manners that he probably hadn't learned before.

I also have been able to piece together that the boy from the nightmare I had, the dream I had the night after Lib Tyrant died, was Train, and that meant… that meant his parents were murdered, just like Batman's parents.

And I've also figured that Train was raised by someone whose only intentions were to make Train an assassin, so he never learned the manners kids pick up over their years. I want to ask Train, but I don't think now is the right time to ask.

In the evening, everyone slept in the van. I couldn't sleep, so I just stared up at the moon through one of the windows. I was still in my blue jeans and light blue long sleeved shirt, no shoes, and lying on my long black trench coat.

"Couldn't sleep?" Leila asked. I didn't see her but I could hear. "You know, I used to do the same thing, I would spend my nights gazing up at the moon by myself." Silence, "Eve, I'd like us to be friends. That's ok, isn't it?" Leila said. Oh, so Eve couldn't sleep either?

"Yes…" Eve said softly. I turned over in the leather van seat and watched them; they didn't seem to notice me.

Leila picked up a photo of her, Tim, and… and Leon from the Apostles of the Stars? "I bet Leon would be happy for me, because I made a new friend."

"Leon?" Eve asked.

"I told you about him, he's the former leader." Leila frowned. "He's no longer with us though." Didn't she know? Didn't she know that Leon was a member of an evil society of people?

"Tim is always so rash…" Leila said. "It really makes me worry about him; I mean…" she pulled the photo close to her chest. "To take on the gangsters, it's just so dangerous…"

I roll back onto my back. Now that I really thought about it, Tim and Train had something in common; they both wanted revenge and would risk their lives to get it. Now I think of Saya, the girl who died in that alleyway, covered in blood, so much blood.

Why did fate have to be so cruel? Why did someone who had such a wonderful way of looking on life, someone who always saw the bright side of life, someone who could sing so beautifully… Why did someone like that, like Saya, have to be murdered without the slightest thought, without mercy or remorse?

"Why are you a Sweeper?" Leila asked Eve. I rolled over to watch them again.

Eve thought about it for a moment. "Because I have someone who cares about me…" She probably meant Sven, but those two are close.

"Oh, like a boyfriend?" Leila asked. More silence, and I saw the flush of color in Eve's cheeks.

There were tire screeching outside and lights flooded through the windows.

"What's that?" Eve asked.

Leila gasped as the kids woke up. "It's the gangsters…"

"Oh shit…" I mutter. I sit up, look out the broken window to see several cars pull into the lot, and men climb out of their cars, men with guns. I grab my shoes and slip my jacket on, gun at the ready.

The kids whimpered, and Leila went to the front door, if there was a door. "Stay inside guys." Tim ran in front of her, I guess he was on the top of the glass building. "Tim…"

A car door opened and a man with blonde hair, blue eyes that made me think of a snake's eyes, a white suit and fedora, he had a cigar in his mouth.

"It's your lucky night kids; tonight you're leaving the factory." The man said, lighting his cigar. He turned towards one of the guys, one of the men from earlier this afternoon. "Rital, where's that kid from earlier..?"

Tim stood his ground. "This is our home," Tim said. "Get off our property you jerk!"

"You must have some kind of death wish kid." The man from this afternoon said, and he began to walk forward. And then Train leapt off the brick building and landed a few feet in front of the men, and then charged forward so fast I didn't even see him move. He knocked out each man with moves that must've taken years to get right.

"Who the hell is that?" the leader of the gangsters asked. Men began firing rapid bullets at Train, but he dodged every one of them with agility like, well, a cat, and knocked out two more men, wait, three.

Two men stopped aiming at Train and aimed towards Leila, Tim and me. Eve's hand morphed into a shield that deflected the bullets. Once the gun's bullets were spent, Eve's hair morphed into a hammer and smashed down one of the cars. I began firing at the men, and they wisely took cover behind a car. I took cover behind a wood crate as we fired.

I spared the kids a quick glance, and I saw the toddler from this afternoon, the one with blonde hair, run away.

I gasped and looked at Train; he just kicked down a man and pulled out Hades, aimed, and fired one bullet that smashed the windshield of a nearby car. A man fired another bullet at Train but he pulled Hades up to deflect it, and Train grunted. He had said that the wound in his shoulder was worse than he thought, so I fired a bullet at the man's gun and it flew across the lot.

Train looked over and gave a grin, the same grin he gave me and Eve at the gardens with Igor, and even with him three times smaller than his normal height, the affect was nuclear.

"Hold it right there, kid!" a man said. We all turned and saw the leader of the gangsters holding the toddler pointing a gun at her. We all gasped. "Keep causing trouble, I dare you." The leader said. The kids in the van whimpered again.

Rital, the man from earlier sneered. "Now, hand us the gun kid." Train blinked, and I saw that Eve had an idea.

"What is it Eve?" I whisper, walking slowly to her. She whispered something to Train and his eyes grew, Eve whispered the plan to me and I couldn't help a smile, it was genius, or stupid…

"If I give you the gun, will you let the girl go?" Train asked; he had Hades in its case.

"Absolutely…" the leader said. I didn't trust his eyes. Train reached to his case, and tossed Hades towards Rital and his boss, but you could possibly see a string connected to Hades. Rital reached for the gun and it morphed into blonde hair. Of course Eve could do this; she's seen Hades hundreds of times so it's no challenge to duplicate it.

"What the hell was that?" Rital said.

Train whipped Hades out from behind his back and fired a bullet at the gangsters. The toddler screamed as she fell from the man's arms, but Leila ran from the van, leapt, and caught the girl. Rital growled and more bullets were fired, but me and Train fired too. Leila's glasses broke.

Tim screamed a battle cry, ran forward, and punched Rital squarely in the face. He must be a whole lot stronger than I thought because Rital flew backwards.

Train aimed Hades at the gangster boss who was on the ground, shaking like a leaf. Tim walked over to him. "Do you want to finish this guy off?" I watched. "Here," Train handed Hades over to Tim. "It's your choice…"

Tim looked at Hades for a while, and then aimed it at the gangster leader. He gasped.

"Tim," Leila said, but Tim didn't seem to listen.

"Are you going to shoot?" Train asked.

"No…" Tim said, drawing Hades back. "This guy's not worth killing…" he hit the gangster leader across the face with the back of Hades. "Now get out of here, and don't ever show your faces around here again!" Tim yelled as the leader, with his face starting to swell up, scrambled backwards. "Leave!" The gangsters piled into the cars, except the one Eve smashed, and drove away.

A small grin lightened up Train's face, he was proud of Tim, as were Eve and Leila, who looked pretty without her glasses, and I was proud too, it takes a lot to walk away from a goal. The kids from the red van cheered and ran towards Tim and us.

I look at Train. "Think they'll be ok?"

"Yeah," Train said. "We should head back, Sven might be worried." I nod, and Eve, me and Train waved goodbye to the kids, and walked back to our hotel room.

"Where have you been?" Sven asked us when he got back.

"Just out," Train said through the bathroom door.

"Just out, then what was all that running around for?" Sven asked from the table he sat at.

"We had some things to do," I say with a shrug. Eve stared at Sven, and I saw the flush of color in her cheeks again. I guess she remembered what Leila asked. "How was the search?"

Rinslet came in through the door. "Not good, we were out all day and we didn't even find one damn lead."

"That's weird," I say.

"Well, I didn't find much at Torneo's mansion, since the lab was pretty much trashed when I got there." Rinslet held out a pretty much destroyed floppy disk. "And all the stuff was junk anyway."

"Let's see," On the floppy disk, the label said; 'tips on how to make rolled omelets without turning it into toxic waste'. "What the heck?" I ask.

Kyoko walked in through the door, with a paper bag in her hands. "Hey there, we're back, Mr. Black, Sven?"

"A little late," I say. "Train is in the shower." I heard the water turn off and after a minute, the door opened and Train stepped out of the bathroom, a towel around his waist. I felt my eyes grow when we saw him, and there was this awkward pause, because what we saw was not only puzzling, but it made my face grow red, I just knew it.

"Train..?" Rinslet asked. "Sven, you liar, you told me he was a little boy!" she cried.

"Hey, you're back to normal!" Sven cried. Oh yes, Train was back to his old self, and he only wore a towel around his waist, and he was… how can I put this?

"Oh wow…" Kyoko sighed. Yes, that's what I was thinking. Of course there was another word for that.

"I am, oh yeah!" Train said, turning a bit.

Sven sighed. "Making us worry over nothing…"

"You really had me fooled there Sven…" Rinslet said.

Kyoko looked closely at him. "How did you grow so fast? Was it the hot water?"

"You're like a cup of noodles…" Eve said. "Just add water…"

"Cup of noodles..?" Train asked. Well, I don't have any clue on how he got back to normal, but it was good to have Train back, and… I'm still staring at him, crap. I jerk my head away from him, but I just know that my face is some shade of red, still… wow... what a sight...


	19. Chapter 19

Light headed

After the things that happened that night with Train changing back, he was convinced that we needed a vacation, so he could get back to normal and recover. Although I'm not quite sure if that really was the case, but I was right there with him.

After an hour of begging from Train, Sven broke; we'd leave in the morning. Rinslet decided to tag along with us, so our room was full. Sven took one of the beds, Train took the other, Rinslet, Kyoko and Eve shared the third one, and going for sober, and that I didn't want to sleep in the same bed as Kyoko, I took the couch. I was tired, and couldn't think of anything _but_ sleep.

Sadly that was short lived.

I was awoken by the lingering smell of blood and gunpowder. The dream I started having since the night Lib Tyrant died, the one where Black Cat kills me, that dream, again. My eyes stung and I had to run cold water over my face and drinking a few cups. I could see again, but the water didn't erase the taste of vile in the back of my throat.

Clutching the sink, I gulped down several aching breaths and looked at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. My blue eyes seemed darker, and my blonde hair a disheveled mess. So I walked from the bathroom to the couch, and buried my face in my hands for a good solid minute.

"Couldn't sleep?" A voice from behind me asked. Just when I was about to jump a solid foot I stopped and turned to see Train standing in the doorway, going for calm and collected.

I shake my head. "No, I'm fine," Train tilted his head as he eyed me. "Really, I'm fine, it was just a nightmare." I insist. Train narrowed his eyes at me and I stood up right and glared at him. "It's just a bad dream, nothing suspicious!"

"You've been having bad dreams a lot lately," Train said. What the hell? How did he know?

"And _how _exactly do you know this?" I ask him.

He didn't look right at me. "You cry in your sleep, just a little."

"Isn't that kind of stalkerish?" I ask. He let out a short breath and leaned against the doorway. There was something about him and doorways; he seemed to fill them up so completely. His eyes flickered onto me and I missed his eye contact. Damn, I couldn't believe how handsome he was; with his light skin that seemed to have that golden touch, his dark brown hair, and his gold eyes. It was hard not to look at him, but he was so out of my league, like from Sun to Pluto far. "Why do you know?" I ask.

"You just seemed so sad, and I wondered why." he said. Did he worry about me? No way, guys don't flicker their attention to me like that.

"I'm not sad," I say.

"Really?" he asked, then he looked he gazed again into my eyes. "You're eyes get darker when you're emotional. They're darker now, like high skies or really deep waters."

"Really? I didn't know that." I said, blinking a few times. He smiled, just barely.

"I believe this is yours." He said holding out his hand. I looked down; a necklace with a crystal cat on it sat in his hand. It was the necklace dad gave me the morning I met Rinslet. I honestly didn't know it was missing. This is why I don't wear jewelry; it always gets lost or broken, or both.

"Where'd you get this?" I ask.

He shrugged. "I guess when you pinned me to the ground the night Eve tried to kill me, it must of come off. It was laced around Hades, the clasp must've broke." He smiled. "I fixed it, see?" The clasp was fixed, and anyone could see the place where, it was kind of armature but it was fixed. "I carried it with me so that I could give it back." He held it out to me, but he seemed almost reluctant about giving it back.

Wait, if he's had it this whole time, and he carried it around with him, does that mean he likes me? No, that can't be right, but then again… he's had it this whole time… Did he like carrying that thing around?

"Why?" I ask. He raised his eyebrows in question. "Why did you keep that thing?"

He tucked his bottom lip in and looked to the floor. "I told you yesterday, I like you." Oh, oh… I thought he was talking about the friend zone, could he have meant something higher?

But now that I think about it, there have been little signs; him saving my ass from being killed, and that night with the stars, and at the castle… all of it leading up to the parking lot. He likes me, but why?

"Why?" I ask softly.

His beautiful honey colored eyes looked into my plain blue ones. "Because…" he seemed to be a little hesitant for words, and then after a few seconds he took a breath of air and let it out in a sigh. "Because, no one besides Saya has ever treated me like a human instead of a machine. I've always wanted the life that you two have. It's a life I've never had."

"What do you mean by 'the life you've never had'?"

He sighed, walked to the window on the far wall and looked at me. "My entire life, since my parents were murdered when I was five, people have treated me as a robot that only knows how to kill." He offered me the necklace again. "This is yours, so take it back; it's to remind you of home." I took it from him and examined the cat.

"Thanks…" I say, and I smile a bit as I walked over to him too.

"And…" he said. "I like you because you have that kind of heart."

I look into his eyes. "What?"

"You're heart," he said. "You're kind when it comes to the people you care about, and you're fierce when it comes to protecting them." He took a small step closer to me. "I'd give anything to have what you have, someone to protect."

I gulp. "You've protected me more times than I've been able to count…" I say.

"I guess that's something…" he said as he stepped closer, so close our noses were a mere five inches apart.

I don't retreat, I don't back away, I let my instincts guide me as our mouths descended onto each other's.

A kiss, a soft as a summer's breeze, but it seemed to replace my blood with electricity, as it deepened.

We pulled away from each other, but it seemed too soon. Train looked surprised.

"Your dad will kill me…" he laughed softly. "But at least I'll die happy."

I smiled. "And I'll be right there with you."


End file.
